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#these were the product of a v high morgan
supersources · 2 years
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random (chaotic) dialogue starters.
* is that all you have to say?
* tell me you love me or something, don't just stand there!
* are you out of your fucking mind?
* it's truly a wonder that you're still alive.
* that's not my name.
* that's not my name and you know it.
* how many fingers am i holding up?
* i swear, it's my dog's fault.
* are you really going in there?
* that's how people get killed in horror movies, you know?
* if you die on me after everything i've done for you... i'll never forgive you.
* how could i ever forgive you?
* sometimes, everything shifts in the snap of a finger.
* stop yelling at me or i'll tell them!
* would it kill you to hold my hand every now and then?
* just squeeze my ass and tell me everything will be okay.
* you're all i need right now.
* you're finally here, so i can fucking sleep.
* i told you to turn your music down!
* you're not my parent!
* i didn't steal your boyfriend, he came with me willingly.
* it's taking everything in me not to slap you in the face right now.
* you know, people can hear you.
* do you ever think before you speak? you should try it.
* i'll change your life, if you let me.
* will you go buy me tampons or not?
* please, close the door on your way out.
* keep your hands to yourself.
* what do you think they were thinking about? you know, when they died?
* do you think they know?
* it's not my fault, it's 4am and you're fucking yelling at me!
* you're a shit friend.
* you're my best friend.
* you're my only friend.
* i hope hell is nice and warm when we get there.
* tell me the truth, at least once.
* did you really cheat?
* i don't wanna know the details.
* can i have some?
* i would kill for a nice glass of wine right now.
* you brought a knife to a gun fight, baby.
* you're so stupid it kinda turns me on.
* i want you to meet my parents.
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k1ngpin42 · 18 hours
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𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚛 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚗 & 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 (𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 ;)
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Warnings: 18+, smut, oral (giving & receiving) s3x, fingering, handj0b, soft & rough Arthur, gentlemen Arthur, V!rgin reader 
Notes: I know you guys voted Sub Abby, ✌𝓢𝓤𝓑 𝓐𝓑𝓑𝓨 ✌ WILL BE POSTED NEXT I had been working on this Red Dead project a while ago so I hope you don’t take it too negatively. Thanks for all the support I’ve had so far, it means a lot that people can enjoy my work (even if it’s mostly smut.)
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Notorious outlaw Arthur Morgan, who has been forced into a tight, high end tux in a crammed, high end place hates everything about this party Dutch made him attend. That is until he meets a fancy woman, (you) who isn’t as dull as he originally suspected. 
PLEASE NOTE: there’s no fluid 1850s language used so don’t be upset if there’s some modern slang or anything I’m just writing cause I’m bored. 
Some Y/N is mentioned, I try to avoid Y/N at all costs but there was no way around it this time, I’m sorry guys but it’s only a few times so dw.
The mission was practically a laughing matter- being that the guest of honour was a drug lord and that Arthur and the others were all outlaws who wouldn’t know which utensil to use at dinner to save their life, which glass to drink from or their name, how to feel normal in a suit, how to not steal every beautiful piece of decor they encountered and how to even speak with all these…well-read, well off folk. 
The mission itself seemed simple enough. Talk to the governor, make a good impression and snoop around. Having to give the doormen their weapons was just another reminder of how far out of his comfort zone he was. 
When the champagne was offered Arthur immediately took a glass, looking over the porch and subtly acknowledging Dutch beside him. Bronte greets them warmly and starts pointing out and mocking some of the party guests, including Mayor Henri Lemiux, Alberto Fussar, Hobart Crawley and his wife Brenda. Once the group seperate, Arthur makes his way to the main floor.
“Okay…” Arthur mumbled to himself, grimly. “Mingle…” He looks around the crowd. There are people dancing, talking, making out of course, He doesn’t know where to go first. That is until he hears you talking to some man.
“You…flatter me.” You tell him, clearly lying. “However I am…reserving my dance for another…” You say, quickly. Arthur turns to face you and see’s the most beautiful gown he’s ever seen. It’s a white corset that extends down into an ocean of subtle ruffles. The material looks stiff and the bottom has specks of gold. 
The man in question is overweight and if he was being honest, smelt rank. He felt sorry for you, whoever you were, he had suspected you were dragged to this thing too, fancy dress and all. 
“I don’t see him.” The man said, putting his arms around your hips. You carefully remove them and he grabs your arm tightly.
“Where you goin’ princess?” He says, and something in Arthur almost snaps, he wants to snap. He knows he can’t make a scene so he walks behind you, whispering in your ear. His warm breath and the unexpectedness of it all initially makes you flinch, but ANYONE would be better than this slag. You had seen him get handsy with almost every female employee here and on the streets you had heard him getting creepy with fucking children. Thankfully it hadn’t escalated, at least so far.
“You alright miss?” Arthur questions in your ear. You turn over to look at him. He’s tall and awful handsome, not like any men you had seen at the party so far. He had gorgeous eyes of Atlantic blue and his hair was…almost perfect. It looked like whatever product he used was far from his regular style as the parting was all over the place, but his jawline and minimal facial hair tied the look together. 
“Uh…here he is.” You said, stunned at your own words. He looks at you icily. “Uh….That’s not-“
“Who is that? I ain’t seen him before.” The man yells at you, completely ignoring Arthurs existence. Arthur sighs.
“I’m her…partner….tonight anyway.”  You nod. 
“Exactly, and I owe him a dance so if you don’t mind.”
“Fuck you, how would your daddy react to you dancing with some nameless stranger?” The man groans at you. You roll your eyes.
“Go hang.” You say, quietly, but Arthur still hears it and his eyes widen, impressed. 
“He gon’ hear about it from me just you wait”
“Looking forward to it.” You tell him, and the man goes off somewhere. You let out a groan, covering your eyes in embarrassment.
“I am so sorry Mr…?”
“Uh...that’s not important. And you’re welcome. Who was that?” He asks. You sigh. 
“Not important.” You grab his hands and start swirling around and his face flushes red.
“Miss I…ain’t much of a dancer.”
“Well it would be a damn waste not to dance after that little facade.” He looks at you, a little confused, but nods.
“What brings you here anyway?” You ask, his large hand on your waist, the other in your gloved palm. Arthur can’t help but smile, still taking in your figure. 
“My friends and I were invited by Bronte, he’s a guest here.”
“I see. So you’re here to make impressions?
“Or some such thing.” He replies, still blushing like an idiot. You talk for a little while, swaying to the music, talking about everything and nothing as if he’s the most trustworthy person out there.
“I hate going to these things.” You tell him, a little worried you had ruined the weirdly peaceful atmosphere the two of you had been experiencing. He nods, watching you intently while still trying to maintain rhythm.
“You look like a million bucks. I would have assumed you were made for these things.” He stumbles. 
His lack of fluidness when talking was weirdly attractive, it brought a sense of comfort which you rarely felt, especially with his accent. 
“In a way I was made for it…these parties are my life whether I like it or not.”
“I couldn’t imagine it.” Arthur blurts out, and you look up at him with curiosity. 
“I knew you weren’t a noble.” You say with a grin. He rolls his eyes playfully.
“Why? Do I smell like poor folk?” You laugh at his comment. 
“No, no the camp smell is…luxurious.” “I’ll have you know I bathed before I came here.” He replied defensively, causing you to laugh more. This banter went on until he spotted Lemieux.
“Excuse me.” He says, not even waiting for the dance to end before approaching your father. The mayor's butler, Pierre appears and tells Lemieux that he received a phone call from Leviticus Cornwall. Another man with greasy black hair overhears this and has Arthur follow Pierre to find out about it. 
Being as cautious as you can, you slip through and follow Arthur to see what he’s doing. You watch him follow Pierre into an office and enter it once Pierre leaves. Arthur starts trying to unlock the door when you come in.
“So you’re not just not a noble, you’re a thief.” You remark, causing him to spin his head around to face you.
“Miss…” He tries. You roll your eyes.
“Save it. What are you even looking for?”
“Look, this is all just a misunderstanding, I’m sure if you just let me go, we can both forget this ever happened, I’ll be on my way and you can go back to your life of parties.” He tries, lowering the document in his hand.
You walk over to him, leaning over his shoulder to see the document.
“Wow.” You say, unimpressed. He looks at you guiltily. 
“Look, I’m sorry miss, you seem real nice and I meant no disrespect by coming here and…acting all decent, I’m just doing what I’m told.” He tries, his voice sounding like a plead at this point. 
“Mmm, what Dutch Van Der Linde told you to do, right? He was that man with the excessive hair pomade and the…vests. I’ve heard about him.”
“What?? You know of me??” Arthur demanded. You put a soft, gloved hand to his mouth.
“Shhh, do you know how much trouble we would be in if we were discovered in here? I had suspected you were an outlaw but the only one I recognised was Dutch and Bronte.” Arthur isn’t paying attention to your words so much as he is the warm hand on his mouth. 
“Who are you?” He asks. You shake your head. 
“What are you going to do with the papers?”
“Look, it isn’t really business for a lady to-“ You glare at him and he fumbles his words again. 
“Not to say a lady can’t…my meaning is-“
“So a robbery?” You interrupt, unimpressed by his long winded explanation. He sighs.
“St Denis is a big city…it don’t need quite so many vaults in that bank they have secured up real nice.” He says. You roll your eyes,
“You can not be that foolish. Doing any sort of crime in St Denis is suicide unless you have a bullet proof escape plan and I’m sorry but I smelt your bullshit from a mile away.”
“You have quite the tongue for a lady.”
“And you are just…something else for a gentlemen.” You retort. 
All of a sudden you hear the jittering of keys at the door and you and Arthur exchange a look of panic.
“Oh Jesus.” Arthur mutters and you roll your eyes.
“Swearing isn’t helping, outlaw. Try that window.”
“I have a name-“
“Then say it.”
“It-“ He groans, wondering how the fuck he got into this situation and why he was involving himself with a random woman. A beautiful and intelligent one at that, one who definitely challenged him in a way he enjoyed, but also one who was getting in the fucking way.
“It’s Arthur…” He pauses, turning to look at you when he reaches the window. “Morgan.” He adds. 
The window won’t open and so you shove the document back into the draw and lean Arthur against the window, pressing your mouth against his aggressively. He was clearly shocked, and who wouldn’t be? But still, almost like an instinct, his lips parted and his tongue moved skillfully through your mouth. Henry Lemieux walks in an audibly gasps. 
“Y/N Lemieux what the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry father I…let me explain.” Arthurs ears burn at this. Father??
“You listen here little girl, I have told you NEVER to go in here. What’s gotten into you? And on such a significant night with some stranger??”
“My rooms always guarded and I just wanted some privacy. Arthur and I have been seeing each other for some time but I knew I couldn’t take him here. I’m sorry I let you down this is just the only place I knew there wouldn’t be workers.”
He sighs. “I understand there are a lot of rules in this household that may make you…may make it feel like there’s not as much freedom as ideal but it’s to protect you! You need to be more careful with strangers.” He yells, walking over to Arthur.
“Mmm, Bronte invited you I take? I don’t know you otherwise and I know anyone who’s anyone, meaning there’s no way you’re good enough for my daughter. Did you try and take her honour? Is that it?”
“We were just talking, that was our first kiss father honest it was.” Arthur puts his hands up innocently, nodding at your comment. Henry lets out an annoyed gush of air..
“I want you both out of here, we will discuss your punishment later, my daughter.” You nod and drag him to your room, waving at the guards there to fuck off. They stare at you blankly.
“Men are not allowed I-“
“My father just allowed it, but if you don’t trust me, you can go bother him in his study, I’m sure he’d be thrilled.” You tell one of them, annoyed. He nods and the guards head downstairs. You close the door and Arthur is just looking at you, wide eyed. He turns to the door and you sigh.
“I’m…not allowed locks.” You explain. He doesn’t say anything. 
“So…” You say. He angrily paces around the room.
“What the fuck…what the fuck??” 
“Calm down Mr Morgan.” You say, unphased. He glares a you. 
“Calm down?? I did more than just fuck up. I exposed my whole fucking plan to the governors daughter just because she was a pretty face I- fuck, this was a bad plan.” Arthur mumbled to himself. You smile slightly.
“You think I’m pretty?”
“I got to go…” He says, reaching towards the door. You walk in front of it.
“Why?” You ask, plainly.
“What?”
“Why do you have to go?” You question, He walks closer to you, his eyes darting around the room nervously. 
“Well you’re just gonna tell your dad won’t ya?”
“Oh yeah cause I just lied for fun Mr Morgan that’s a real bright comment.”
“Well why else would you do it? You don’t know me.”
“You’re an outlaw. Slightly naive, perhaps, but you, hair pomade and whoever else is in your group, you do anything you can for family. Even utterly foolish things such as breaking into the governments office and robbing the most secure bank in this country. I’m not going to inform my father. I can respect what you were…trying but if you try that whole St Denis thing, you can rest assured you will be walking into your own damn funeral.”
“Well what else would you suggest then, miss?? In case you haven’t noticed, men like me don’t get good paying jobs, unless it’s for folk like you who would never hire us.”
“Trains, small stores, homesteads…” You pause. “boats.”
He raises an eyebrow. 
‘You’re encouraging I steal, my lady?” You practically snort at his comment.
“In essence. People ‘like me’ don’t REALLY need those gold emerald earrings or platinum laced watches. It’s less stealing than it is…balance.” You say, matter-of-factly. He can’t deny how impressed and surprised he is by you. A government daughter, gorgeous, smart, fancy as hell but most importantly you didn’t hate him, and that meant more to him than words could measure.
“The grand Korrigan holds high end poker games. It’s easier than you’d think to sneak on, I’ve done it myself, it’s in Lemoyne.”
“W- I’m sorry, you snuck on to the grand Kerrigan….in lemoyne?”
“I heard my father talk about it. I was bored.”
“Why would you help me? I mean isn’t it against your father in some way?”
“How I see it, you were going to do this anyway, I’m not helping at all, simply telling you where it is so that you don’t go kill yourself at the bank. If I were to…accompany you, then perhaps I wouldn’t feel inclined to tell my father you were in there to steal copies of the deed my father was going to sign.” 
“Okay woah, slow down my lady-“
“You really don’t have to call me that…”
“I really do. Now listen, there is no way we’re getting involved  with the governers daughter, I’m sorry that you get bored dressing up like a doll 3 times a day and having guards around you but that’s no excuse to go commit crimes…”
“I won’t be committing them, you will.”
“Still, I don’t want to be liable for you.”
“Wow…romantic.” You say, sarcastically. He sighs.
“That’s not what I mean it’s just….the answer is no.”
“I’ve snuck on before, I know heaps of ways to sneak in and out of this city as well several others. When you can’t leave town there’s nothing else to do but learn about everyone else’s business. I guarantee I could get you into anywhere. Plus I cn protect myself, I’ve been trained in combat since I was 14.”
“But why?” He asks. But he doesn’t need to. He knows the answer. He felt it when you guys first touched and again when you first kissed. He felt it now knowing you’ve seen through him and didn’t want to look away. You weren’t frightened or repulsed and neither one of you wanted to part each other. It was unexplainable. You barely knew each other. 
“I can’t keep letting my life slip away in this meaningless existence. I want adventure, love I don’t know…I know I’m stupid for think-“
“Don’t talk about yourself like that sweetheart” Arthur says, putting a hand on your face.
“We shouldn’t do this.” He says, dragging his thumb over your lip and making it part slightly. You nod.
“It would be reckless…we would be naive to think we won’t get caught.” You breathe out. He nods.
“We would probably…” Arthur paused, his accent thick in your ears. “get as far as the gate before everything goes sideways, not to mention the gang would never accept you.” You nod back.
“exactly.”
“Exactly.” He says, putting his other hand on your face and kissing you deeply.
———————————Smut——————————————
You can taste residue of the sweet, bubbly champagne he had drank only moments earlier mixed with the metallic taste of his being. Having someones tongue in your mouth and particularly a man who was anything but inexperienced was unusual to say the least, but a feeling you welcomed as he eagerly explored and savoured your taste now too. 
You walk back with your arms still wrapped around his neck, kissing him roughly. You flinch slightly when you bump into the end of your bed. You hesitate for a moment, looking into his pretty eyes again before internally making a decision and climbing onto your bed. He tilts his head, admiring you fondly. 
“Now Miss, I don’t think we should rush this, you’re a woman. To be…I don’t know…cared for or somethin’. Me? I’m a bad man.” Arthur hesitates. “A rough man.” He corrects.
“It’s okay Morgan, I’m not a little girl, I can handle it.” He walks away from the bed and paces for a while. You decide to reassure him with more than just words this time and remove your shoes, then you start working on the lace at the back of your dress. Arthur sighs, knowing he won’t be able to avoid all the things he’ll do to you. He’s a good man, somewhere in there. When it comes to women he was more decent than most at least.
“Let me help you with that.” He says, grabbing you by the hips and pulling you so your back is right against the front of his body. He removes it and starts working at your undergarments. 
“Do you want to stop?” He asks. You shake your head.
“No?” You say, more surprised at how gentle he’s being with you than anything else. He chuckles softly.
“Just making sure.” He coos before effortlessly removing your undergarments as well. 
He flips you around and pushes you so you’re lying spread across the bed. He climbs over you, positioning himself so his knee is between your legs. You feel nervous with your body exposed to him like this. He starts tracing your body with his finger tips.
“You’re god damn gorgeous.” He remarks, cupping one of your warm breasts which you were embarrassed at how quickly the nipple on it hardened under his touch. He lays soft kisses all over your chest, sucking near your bellybutton which got an excited gasp from you in response. He continues drawing lines across your body with the two middle fingers of his right hand but stops when he reaches your lower area. 
“You ever done anything like this before?” He asks, kissing your waistline. You consider lying. “Of course…” You could say, but he’d see right through it. You just didn’t want him to back up and leave because he didn’t want to harm your image. Too fucking gentlemanly to taint a womans reputation, but murder and crime? Now that’s alright.
“Well?” He questions again. You blush, shaking your head.
“No, I guess not.” You admit. You can see this troubles him, but he knows you don’t want to stop, he can tell you’re yearning for it, yearning for him more specifically.
“You know how it all works?” He asks, lowering himself to your thighs and kissing inside. You nod.
“Yeah, yeah I think so.” You reply, your eyes fluttering at the varying sensations your body was experiencing. He nods.
“Sit on my lap, I’m gonna put my fingers in okay?” You do as he says, sitting on his fancy black pants and adjusting yourself so that he’s comfortable. He lets out a light groan.
“God, sorry did I hurt you Mr Morgan?” He chuckles slightly.
“Quite the opposite, stay still I need to be able to control myself.” He instructs, and you feel yourself pooling at his words. 
“Do you have water in this room?” He asks, and you look at him confused. 
“Uh, yeah, by my nightstand theres a jug, I get thirsty sometimes at night.” 
“Be right back.” He says, placing you back on the bed and taking the jug, pouring some water onto his fingers.
“If you’re uh…sort of….tight inside, it feels better with wet fingers.” He explains. You can’t help but laugh.
“You’re not the smoothest man out there Mr Morgan.” You tease. He laughs back.
“Pretty girls have that effect on me.” He delicately guides his two middle fingers between your folds and your pussy literally glistens. You’ve never felt wet for another person before and especially not to this extent. 
“Breathe in.” He says as he guides two fingers inside you and you let out a sharp breath. He immediately removes his fingers.
“Too much, my lady?” You shake your head.
“No, no I can take it.” You affirm and he rolls his eyes playfully. 
“Sweetheart, I can tell the difference between a painful gasp and a moan. You’re still tight so I’m going to use my tongue to help you relax.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just think of it like a kiss.” He says before putting his tongue inside you. You let out the loudest moan you’ve ever heard yourself make and you put your fist in your mouth, embarrassed.
“Oh my god…” You whisper as he quickens his movements. Then, his nose is bumping up against your clit, his tongue still working other areas.
“Fuck~” You moan. You can guess all your manners and lessons in how to be dignified had gone down the drain. 
A man you had met only today, an outlaw no less who was only at the party to steal from your father was giving you pleasure you could never give yourself. It was….interesting.
“Fuck…Fuck Arthur don’t go so fast I’ll…it’s too much…” But Arthurs so fucking into it, tasting you, savouring every orgasmic noise you make for the first time, only for his ears to enjoy. He doesn’t slow down and it’s not long before your pussy pulses in his mouth, your thighs shaking like a damn leaf. 
“He gets back up and puts you on his lap again, putting his fingers in your slick.
“Wow, that’s quite a lot sweetheart.”
“I’ve never….well not like that before.” You explain. He nods, putting his fingers inside your significantly looser hole, doing small beckoning motions inside of you. You start breathing heavy again as he pumps his fingers in and out. You cling onto his jacket, already feeling your stomach swell in waves of pleasure. When you release again, he just flashes you a satisfied look.
“I’m gonna take my pants off. You can rub yourself on my thigh first, gotta get you ready for my cock.”  You’re flushing red and just let out a small sound of understanding. When you see his half-hard cock in his underwear, though, you are so consumed with lust you can’t think of anything else but touching it.
“Go on get on my thigh.” Arthur tells you with a comforting smile. He notices your hesitant expression.
“What is it?” 
“I want to touch you.” You blurt out. He smirks.
“Really?” He asks. You nod. 
“Please.” Arthur gets off better through pleasuring others, but you’re so beautifully eager that he doesn’t think twice.
“Here.” He says, taking off the glove on your right hand and guiding it into his (boxers? Whatever tf they had back then) It was warm and felt very strange in a way you weren’t sure you liked, however feeling it grow in the palm of your hand was satisfying. You pulled the pants further down, taking out his cock. It was pretty well groomed and a lot cleaner than you had anticipated. It was also big. You knew it would be, he was practically a cowboy and you definitely knew what they said about cowboys.
He grabbed your hand and gripped it sternly over his shaft.
“Move your thumb over the tip…” He moves your fingers, rubbing himself with them.
“Like this. Then with your hand, apply press- mm” He lets out a low groan.
“And move up and down like this.” You nod, smiling a little awkwardly as you go up and down as fast as you can. Arthur rolls his head back.
“Damn….thats the way sweetheart fuck~” Arthur babbled. You smile, liking the effect you had on him.You continued at that pace and pressure for a while until his moans had progressed into hot fucking whimpers. He smirks at you knowingly. 
“This turn you on gorgeous?” You don’t reply with words, just a simple nod. He hums in response. 
“Show me how much.”
You remove your hand from his cock and reach down to your cunt, getting a thick layer of your slick from your fingers and showing him, clearly still embarrassed.He acknowledges this with a fond look of satisfaction. 
“Coat my cock with it.” He instructs, and your eyes widen at his bluntness. 
“I-“ You stop yourself, deciding your words were of little value in a situation like this. You do as he says, applying a thing layer of your spent and moving even faster. He moans at the sensation and warm precum floods your hands. You look up at him nervously.
“Wait…did you?” 
“No sweetheart, you gotta do more than that.”
“Then why? What is…” you say, your fingers fidgeting with the liquid on your hands. He chuckles, fuck his laugh is attractive, too. 
“It happens a little before. When it feels good, it means I’m close just keep going sweetheart. Keep your eyes on me.” You nod and go faster, feeling his precum dripping over your fingers.
He lets out a low groan combined with a slightly high pitched, breathy whimper. If your ears could cum, they would have just then. You watch with admiration as his head leans back, his glowing face looking all that much sexier when he wasn’t consumed in a mission.
“Mmmph…so good sweeth- oh fuck…” He lets out. You keep your eyes on him even as his cock pulses inside your hand, warmth completely coated your significantly smaller hand. You finally look back down at it.
“What does…what would it taste like?” You question, not even sure why the question crossed your mind. He laughs.
“Now how would I know that my lady?” He asks, still breathing heavily. You roll your eyes at yourself.
“Right.” You exclaim, feeling stupid. He puts a hand on your cheek.
“You did real good…” He says, but you’re still preoccupied in your own thoughts. 
You should have asked first, probably, and in truth you’re not sure why you didn’t, but you put him in your mouth, tasting the salty, metallic flavour of him and evaluating the texture. He lets out a shocked gasp.
“H…holy….don’t- wh…” Is all he can manage, his dick practically swelling in your mouth. You stop and look up at him, swallowing what was in your mouth.
“Sorry…did you not like it?”
“Well I….of course I did- do- of course I do but…you need to give it time, it’s sensitive after releasing all that.” He explains. Your smile widens.
“It sounded like you like it.”
“I do b-“ You put him in your mouth again and this time he grabs your head and instinctively pushes it down, furthering himself in your mouth. 
You’re stunned by his actions and also weirdly turned on, it’s not too much for you to handle and the new roughness he could give and is obviously keeping from you was starting to show. You continue and feel him rock hard again, not even able to speak and replacing his words with small whimpers and sighs. 
“Hey um…stop st-“ He lets out. You do as he says, scared you did something wrong.
“Are you a virgin?” He speaks softly once he finally got his words back. You look a little upset now.
“That bad, huh?”
“What? It was incredible I’ve never felt that good in my life it’s just. If you’re willing we could…uh”
“Oh.” You say, your cheeks lighting up.
“I know you said you haven’t done anything like this.” He adds. “You probably want to save yourself for your husband.”
‘What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. George Pettie said that.” 
“Who?” 
“He’s an author, he- nevermind.” You say, taking off his coat and unbuttoning his shirt. 
“I’m not a good person, you don’t want your first to be with some random outlaw you met at a party do you?” He questions as the last of his clothes are removes and you see his glistening body, gentle lines of hair across the center. You shrug.
“It’s better this way, better to have experience, you know?” He rolls his eyes playfully. 
“So you went for me. Wow, a man thinks he’s special…” He teases, grabbing you by your hips and pulling you onto his lap. You gasp at the feeling of your bare bodies touching like this, his warm thighs under your wet pussy, it was something you never knew you were craving. 
“I’m gonna get you used to the rocking motion…uh.” He starts, taking you by the hips again and moves you slowly up his thigh. He moves you back down and you gasp at the sensation, your clit already fucking throbbing for him. Arthur smirks happily and moves you back again, this time with your help as you thrust your hips onto him. You let out a loud moan. He smiles widely. 
“Mmm…good girl.” He murmurs as you start pleasuring yourself on his thigh. You look away nervously but keep moving up and down.
“I feel bad.” You say, simply. “You can’t feel anything when I do this.” He kisses you deeply and fuck do you love the feeling of his tongue dancing with yours. 
“I love it like this.” Arthur admits, and you can tell by the look on his face that he’s genuine.  Your pleasure is everything to him, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t give it to you. 
You keep going for a while, letting a chorus of gasps and moans escape your lips in a song of desperation. You’re close again, your eyes shutting involuntarily as you grip onto his hair. 
“So good…” You exclaim, thrusting harshly. He kisses you even longer this time. 
“Real good, girl.” He coos. 
You look down and Arthur looks almost painfully hard at all this commotion. You look at him nervously. He smiles comfortingly at you. 
“Lie down.” He tells you, and you do as he says, carefully getting off his lap and lying down on the bed beside him. 
“Good, now take deep breaths, it might hurt a little at first okay?” Your wetness pools between your thighs. He’s so fucking caring, at least in this situation, and fuck…he talks you through it. You know he’s experienced and yet he’s treating every sensation like its a first for both of you 
“Sweetheart?” He asks, softly, bringing you out of your head long enough to enjoy the experience. You blush.
“Yea- Yes.” You say, and he towers over you, sucking at the soft skin of your neck and urging a breathy moan in response. 
“Don’t…mess around Arthur- just do it already.” He raises an eyebrow at this.
“Eager, aren’t you miss? Do you want me bad?” You roll your eyes, only somewhat playfully. 
“Just do it.” You repeat. He didn’t really need to be told twice, because he was already lining himself up with your small, dripping cunt. You gasp and he lets out a deep groan when he first enters you. It stings slightly, after all he’s fucking large, but the pain of it all mixed with the pleasure you know he can give you only enhances the situation. 
Arthur watches you from above, noting every noise you make as a result of the things he does to you. He particularly notices the way he forces himself inside you, the way you take every inch of him so fucking well, especially when there’s so much of him to take. It feels fucking phenomenal for him too, the heat of it, the stickiness from all his prior manipulation, it takes everything inside him to not thrust in and out as hard and fast as he wants to, using you as a fucking toy. You would be so perfect for that if that’s what you were into, or if you were any of Arthurs usual sexual partners- troubled women usually, who just want their brains to be fucked out by an outlaw. You were different though. Eager, maybe, but a dignified and intelligent woman who was sleeping with him because she knew it was what she wanted and not because she was troubled or unsatisfied by other men. 
You could see that lustful look in his eye as he cautiously went in and out and you reach up to put a hand on his face. 
“I can handle it Morgan. Go as fast as you want.” It’s like you could hear his thoughts. Arthur always had been transparent. He shakes his head.
“I’m not going to use…” He lets out a groan. “You.” He adds. You give him the most seductive look you know how to make.
“Use me.” You say, and his eyes darken at your comment. You grabs your legs and pins them above your head, forcing his entire cock inside you with some force, making you moan so loud you practically scream. 
“Am I hurting y-“
“Enough with that, Morgan. “If you’re as bad of a man as you claim, you’ll treat me however you want to treat me.”
“I want to treat you well…” Arthur tries, unconvincingly. You give him a comforting look.
“Go on, Morgan.” You affirm again, and he nods, changing his attitude. 
“You gonna take it like a fucking good girl?” He questions and holy fuck, this is turning you on significantly more, which is also more or less a concern, you can cross that bridge if and when it comes to it though. 
“Fuck…yes Morg-“
“Don’t fucking call me that. What’s my name?”
“A…Arthur.” You cry out as he moves so fucking fast, so fucking effortlessly.  He smiles.
“Good girl.” He continues on until your words aren’t even audible to him.
“Look at you.” Arthur rambles, putting a hand on your throat, still holding your other leg. 
“So fucking full with my cock, I didn’t think you’d like it like this, guess I was- oh fuck~ mistaken.” You don’t say anything, you couldn’t even if you wanted to, but you felt yourself nearing yet another orgasm. 
“I’m gonna have to pull….ah~ out soon.” Arthur warns, not slowing down or easing back even slightly. Your eyes are still shut tight, so fucking close yourself. And then you experience it, your stomach swirling in ethereal waves as your own slick pours down his cock and your pussy. He pulls out, spinning his body away and letting the warm white liquid spill onto himself. 
When you finally open your eyes, you notice him wiping himself down with a nearby washcloth. He wipes your thighs down too and pulls you in so you’re lying down besides each other. 
“Well I think we got what we needed from this party.” He says, letting out a soft laugh. You nod.
“Thank god the guards didn’t hear all that.”
“Ah yes, what would daddy’s guards think?” You hit him playfully. 
“Let’s go.” You say and he nods, getting up and grabbing his clothes from the ground.
“So now you’re authoritative.” He mutters to himself. 
7 notes · View notes
xtruss · 2 years
Text
As 'Woke' Businesses Face Right-Wing Wrath, Culture War Capitalists Cash In
— ByPaul Bond | August 03, 2022 | Newsweek
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Britt Spencer/Newsweek
Jeremy Boreing had never planned to get into the razor business. That changed in March when online shaving gear seller Harry's yanked its ads from his conservative news site over what it called "inexcusable" views and a "values misalignment" relating to the LGBTQ+ community.
The Daily Wire CEO launched his own line of razors in March under the Jeremy's Razors brand—selling products remarkably similar to those of Harry's.
"They left us for saying boys are boys and girls are girls," complained Boreing, whose news site is known for its podcasts with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
The battle of the razors is the latest in a growing war against "woke business" by conservatives who are starting their own companies or investment funds, using activist shareholder tactics and drafting legislation to target firms espousing liberal causes. The goal: to force executives to focus on profits rather than changing the world—or, at least, not changing the world in ways that align with liberal values.
The issue has taken center stage recently as a number of high-profile companies—including Disney, J.P. Morgan, Levi Strauss and Microsoft—announced plans to cover travel expenses for employees seeking an abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. That followed other headline-making cases of businesses speaking out on social issues, such as Disney taking a stance on legislation in Florida restricting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and dozens of companies from Silicon Valley to Wall Street pledging to fight racial injustice after George Floyd's death in 2020.
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A New York City protest over the Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe v. Wade. Lev Radin/Pacifi Press/Getty
The right-wing backlash, though limited so far, is growing and poses a competing challenge for companies as they juggle demands from some employees, customers and social media campaigners to take a stand on social issues. If successful, the conservative movement could also chip away at the multi-trillion dollar and growing business of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and, perhaps, the very idea of businesses being accountable for more than just making money.
"Firms are making polarizing bets," said Valentin Haddad, an assistant professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management and research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research. "The initial stage of corporate activism is coming from the left, and now there's pushback from the right. Are companies gaining more from the left or losing more from the right? That's their debate."
A Growing Movement
Jeremy's Razors did remarkably well. In just three days, its Twitter account had 35,000 followers, 3,000 more than Harry's gained in 12 years. Within two months the new company had sold 63,000 shaving kits and the razor business was growing faster than The Daily Wire itself, Boreing tells Newsweek. Advertising that mocked liberal sensitivities didn't hurt.
"Do you remember when there were only two genders, and only one-and-a-half of them had to shave their mustaches?" Boreing asks in a commercial that was viewed over 21 million times in seven weeks on YouTube. It features scantily-clad women, burly security officers, a flame thrower, a bald eagle, a little girl shaving and a parody of a "homo-erotic moment." It also targets Gillette, which ran an ad in 2019 that featured a father helping his transgender son to shave for the first time. Harry's declined to respond to Newsweek's request for comment.
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The Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing founded Jeremy's Razor's after online shaving gear seller Harry's yanked its ads from his conservative website. Keith Griner/Getty
Other new companies in the "anti-woke" battle include Rumble, an alternative to Twitter, and Truth Social, a social media firm backed by former President Donald Trump. There's a cell phone company called Patriot Mobile, which bills itself as "America's Christian conservative wireless service provider" and champions the Second Amendment. An email service provides reagan.com addresses, honoring the values of Ronald Reagan and boasting extra privacy to suppress "surveillance capitalism."
Some companies have been around a bit longer, such as the veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee Company, which has been serving coffee to "people who love America"—and shun the famously liberal Starbucks—since 2014.
"You have to fight back against this one-sided situation in our culture," said Boreing.
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A glimpse of the TRUTH Social platform created by Donald Trump. STR/NurPhoto/Getty
Conservative suspicions of left-leaning corporate bias were reinforced after the Roe v. Wade decision in June, with the widespread company pledges of financial help to employees seeking abortions if they can no longer get them in their own states. "Roe v. Wade's Demise Is a Turning Point for Corporate America," said an article in the Harvard Business Review by Andrea Hagelgans and Soni Basi of PR firm Edelman.
"Employers are the only institution that Americans trust to do the right thing when it comes to social issues," they said, citing an Edelman Trust Barometer, which found that business had overtaken government, media and NGOs in terms of which institutions respondents said they trusted. In the U.S., business had a trust level of 49 percent compared to 39 percent trust in both government and the media. However, for the first time, the survey showed Republicans now distrusted business—with trust plummeting 12 percentage points to 48 percent. Among Democrats, it rose one point to 55 percent.
For some Republicans, the corporate response to the Roe v. Wade decision was horrifying.
"If corporations are paying $4,000+ to their female employees to kill their baby, they should pay them the same to celebrate life when their employees become mothers," tweeted Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Applying Pressure
Launching products to appeal to conservatives is only one front for anti-woke campaigners. Other conservatives are trying to apply pressure to existing businesses, investors and investment funds.
Among those pushing in the conservative direction is Scott Shepard, whose Free Enterprise Project (FEP) buys shares in publicly held companies so it can ask difficult questions at shareholder meetings. Last year, his targets included Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast, Twitter and Coca-Cola—criticized for including a lesson from LinkedIn Learning that instructed employees to "try to be less white" as part of its diversity training. (The lesson was removed from LinkedIn Learning after a whistleblower revealed its contents. Coca-Cola said it had been part of a learning plan to build an inclusive workplace.)
Coca-Cola was also among the companies that found themselves in the conservative firing line for opposing a bill in Georgia that, among other other provisions, requires voters to provide a driver's license number or other state-approved ID when filing an absentee ballot—a bill, opponents say, will disproportionately discourage Black voters.
Putting Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan on the spot, Shepard asked him to "explain specifically how requiring voters to show ID in order to avoid fraud is racist." Shepard took it as a small victory when Moynihan responded that maybe the bank needed a bipartisan commission to figure out when it should weigh into politics.
"All of the shareholder activism for the past 20 years has been on the left, and, increasingly, the hard left," Shepard tells Newsweek. "Our goal isn't for companies to suddenly embrace conservative political positions, but to get back to the business of flying us around the country and selling us fizzy drinks."
William Flaig agrees: so much so that the investment professional with two decades' experience has started the American Conservative Values Exchange Traded Fund, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The ETF, with assets of over $30 million, is a basket of stocks in the S&P 500, minus the ones that management has deemed too "woke" to support after surveying shareholders. Those include Apple, Nike, Amazon, Starbucks, The New York Times and Disney.
While it can't be taken as a longer-term indication of performance, the conservative ETF has done somewhat better than the benchmark S&P 500 index over the past year—falling 5.9 percent vs. 8.6 percent for the benchmark index (through July 27).
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Newsweek
Disney climbed the wokeness list in March when it advocated overturning Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill. That prompted Governor Ron DeSantis to threaten to take away tax and regulatory favors that have been hugely valuable to Disney's theme park business since 1967. The law, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by critics, dictates that educators should not teach sexual orientation or gender identity until after the third grade.
Disney drew further ire from conservatives when a leaked video of an internal meeting showed a children's programming executive boasting of a "not-so-secret gay agenda." Another staffer said his team was making sure there was no shortage of trans, asexual and bisexual characters in cartoons.
The video raised more disquiet. A poll from the Trafalgar Group, sponsored by the conservative group Convention of States Action, said it prompted over 68 percent of likely voters to say they're less inclined to do business with Disney—including nearly half of Democrats.
Disney did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment.
Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who made the Disney video public, has become a leading force in the anti-woke movement. He tells Newsweek that conservatives can use reputational, financial and political leverage on corporations. "With Disney, the conservative movement successfully pulled all three levers and created the new playbook for taming woke capital," Rufo says.
Internal documents sourced by Rufo were also part of a campaign against American Express—dubbed UnAmerican Express by its critics, who accuse it of prioritizing the hiring of non-white employees and complain staff, as part of an anti-racist initiative, were instructed not to use phrases like "I don't see color," and "everyone can succeed in this society if they work hard enough" because they are "microaggressions."
Amex declined Newsweek's request for comment.
Conservative competition has meanwhile been emerging to AARP, a nonprofit interest group for the over 50s whose critics say it leans left, pointing to its support for former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. One right-wing alternative is dubbed Christ Above Politics. The most popular is The Association of Mature American Citizens, which lists its core values as "faith, family and freedom." It has grown to more than 2 million members in 2020 from fewer than 100,000 in little over a decade.
Targeting ESG
One of the most ambitious efforts by conservatives to fight corporate wokeness challenges the investment management industry, whose biggest firms have placed growing emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing worth trillions of dollars worldwide.
Strive Asset Management says it "will compete directly with the world's largest asset managers by creating investment funds that advocate for the pursuit of excellence over politics in boardrooms."
Strive was founded in May by Vivek Ramaswamy, the author of Woke Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam. It argues that asset managers such as State Street Corp., Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc. are using client money to advocate for pet causes rather than prioritizing corporate performance. Among Strive's initial investors is Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, first outside investor in Facebook and bogeyman for Silicon Valley liberals.
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Fund manager Vivek Ramaswamy, founder of Strive Asset Management. Lisa Lake/Getty
Among what Ramaswamy cites as bad examples of corporate behavior is the way State Street, Vanguard and BlackRock have pushed energy companies to focus more on climate change than producing oil and gas.
"If the CEOs of the largest energy producers got in a room together and decided they'd keep oil in the ground and jack up prices, this would be the stuff of movies, people would be arrested and it would be the biggest antitrust violation in history," said Justin Danhof, who joined the company this year from the Free Enterprise Project, the conservative shareholder activism and education program. "BlackRock changed the game in 2018. Asset managers had largely been passive, then BlackRock began to weaponize their money."
BlackRock says in public documents that "risks of climate change and the transition to a lower carbon economy present material regulatory, reputational and legal risks to companies that may significantly impair their financial position," thus it is honoring its fiduciary duty when it negotiates with all companies to lessen their carbon footprint.
In a 2022 letter to the CEOs of companies that his firm invests in, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink seemingly addressed the conservative criticism by writing: "Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not 'woke.' It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper."
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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg/Getty
State Street global head of asset stewardship Ben Colton told Newsweek that his firm is consistent and transparent in the way it evaluates "proposals on social and environmental matters" and that its "efforts will continue to be focused on creating value and fulfilling our fiduciary duty." Vanguard told Newsweek that it has "a diverse group of more than 30 million individual investors" with a "broad range of personal beliefs and priorities" and that it is "grounded in our duty to act in their best interests."
Ramaswamy isn't buying it, saying all the activism is in one, liberal direction, and that his goal is to take politics out of the industry.
"You tell me of a right-wing company in the S&P 500 and I'd be glad to tell you how we'd advocate for depoliticizing it," he says. "BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard are using the capital of their clients—everyday Americans—to advocate for policies most of them probably don't agree with. The role of a depoliticized private sector is to bring us together, whether we are Black or white, red or blue. A divided body politic is dangerous, and this problem is caused in part by asset managers who demand that CEOs engage in a political agenda."
BlackRock, in fact, told Newsweek it is "pursuing an initiative to use technology to give more of our clients the option to have a say in how proxy votes are cast at companies their money is invested in," as opposed to BlackRock managers making all of the decisions about which way to vote on sometimes divisive issues.
For companies to reject ESG benchmarks could be a mistake, said Professor Kirk Snyder of the USC Marshall School of Business.
"ESG contributes to conveying to stakeholders, including employees, why a company exists," he says. "Companies wading into politics provides an opportunity to further define its values and what it stands for. Of course, this will not be received in a positive way by all stakeholders."
The Left Pushes Back
Progressive campaigners are noticing the rise of opposition from conservatives.
One player is the nonprofit As You Sow, which says it harnesses "corporate responsibility and shareholder power to create lasting change" with programs that "address gender inequalities, workplace equity, environmental health, and more."
It recorded that the number of conservative proposals to corporate boards had nearly quadrupled to almost 40 during the period between 2013 and 2021—though the group's CEO Andrew Behar notes those proposals earned an average shareholder vote of less than 3 percent compared to 30 percent for actual ESG resolutions.
"This is because the underlying ideas expressed in these resolutions increase risk to all corporate stakeholders," he tells Newsweek. "I do not see anti-ESG shareholder advocacy as undermining the trend toward a regenerative economy based on justice and sustainability."
Levi Strauss & Co. ran into a storm over politics when brand president Jennifer Sey disclosed she had quit in February because the company famous for its blue jeans objected to her outside advocacy of reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although she described herself as a center-left liberal who had supported Elizabeth Warren for president, the right embraced her as a hero. She wrote in Substack that the "last straw" for Levi's had been her appearance on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show, after which she said colleagues accused her of being anti-science, anti-fat, anti-trans and racist. Rather than going on an "apology tour," as she says Levi's had requested, she left and moved from San Francisco to Denver, where public schools were open. Levi's declined Newsweek's request for comment.
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Levi Strauss ran into a storm over politics when a brand president quit earlier this year because the jeans maker objected to her outside advocacy of reopening schools during the pandemic. Sean Gallup/Getty
"We think it would be great for America not to have a red soda or blue soda, and not have red jeans or blue jeans," says Danhof of Strive Asset Management. "Everyone should be able to engage in commerce without having a fight on their hands."
That said, a Trafalgar poll in May shows that many consumers do care about the positions taken publicly by companies whose products and services they use. It indicated that 87 percent of likely voters say they are "likely to stop doing business with a company that takes a political stand they disagree with."
Defending Capitalism
To help guide consumers, conservatives have started ranking companies by their politics. One index is CancelThisCompany.com, which recently added Harry's to its list of "'woke' companies to boycott." The PublicSq.app, launched last year, lists "freedom loving" businesses, saying "It's time to stop buying from companies that hate you."
Another guide is 2ndVote, which ranks Levi Strauss a "1"—as far as it is possible to go on the liberal spectrum. Disney, Coca-Cola, Amex and Facebook are all 1s too.
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Some 87 percent of likely voters say they are "likely to stop doing business with a company that take a political stand they disagree with." Here, protesters air their views about Netflix. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty
With a rating of 4.13 out of 5 is Chick-fil-A, which took a stand more than a decade ago when its CEO spoke out against same-sex marriage. While liberals called a boycott, it has still thrived. By sales, it has grown to rank as America's third biggest fast-food chain, according to the Restaurant Business website.
In April, the Free Enterprise Project and 2ndVote, along with the Job Creators Network of Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, partnered with former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi and former Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson to create what they dubbed The Boardroom Initiative in defense of capitalism.
"Free-market capitalism—a system responsible for lifting billions of people out of poverty and improving the worldwide standard of living—is now under attack," its website says. "Elitist investment fund managers...are slowly infiltrating American corporations by embracing woke cancel culture and prioritizing ESG scores."
In June, the Job Creators Network launched a "Rock the Woke" campaign, promising national advertising and possible legal actions "to highlight egregious examples of "wokeness" hijacking free-market capitalism and to pressure companies to focus on providing products and services that consumers want—not on being culture warriors." Meanwhile, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, or AmFree Chamber, is positioning itself as a rival to the 110-year-old U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with a promise to fight for "equal economic opportunity for every American" and against regulation, tax, corporate cronyism and "backroom DC deal making."
As conservatives see it, part of the problem lies with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which wants publicly traded companies to disclose their board diversity and the risks to climate change that their businesses pose.
Such initiatives have caught the eye of Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, who introduced in September the "Mind Your Own Business Act," which he says "would put the burden of proof on corporations to show that their far-left actions were in shareholders' best interests, and make corporate directors and officers personally liable if they can't prove it." Florida Governor DeSantis, in an attack on what he called businesses 'imposing woke ideology' and using ESG metrics, announced measures this month to prohibit the state's money from being invested based on "political factors".
Whether on the right or the left, big businesses need to beware of the risk of communicating a socio-political stance, said Vanessa Burbano, a professor at Columbia Business School who authored a 2021 study on the subject.
Among its conclusions, Burbano says: "Employees who disagree with a political stance taken by their companies are demotivated—they do less extra work and do lower quality work." On the flip side, "Those who agree with a political stance taken by their companies are not motivated—they behave no statistically differently than a control group." There's similarly a downside in regard to wooing consumers, as they are likely to boycott over a political position they don't like but are not likely to "buycott" over stances they agree with.
Taking no stance on politics can also be problematic, Burbano says.
That was the case last year for Jason Fried, the CEO of Chicago-based software company, Basecamp, who banned talk about politics in the workplace.
"Every discussion remotely related to politics, advocacy or society at large quickly spins away from pleasant," Fried wrote in a blog post. "You shouldn't have to wonder if staying out of it means you're complicit, or wading into it means you're a target." After that, roughly a third of his 60 employees accepted buyouts to leave the firm, and many reportedly said it was due to the new restrictions.
"What remains to be seen is whether companies that communicate apolitical stances are inferred as being conservative," says Burbano. "If every other company takes a liberal stance and one says it is staying out of politics, how will people interpret that?"
The Netflix Conundrum
One company trying to navigate the perilous political dynamics is Netflix, which has long been considered a liberal company by conservatives, due to the political donations of co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos. Hastings has made big contributions to educational institutions serving students of color and also for police reform efforts. Sarandos has made frequent donations to Democratic politicians, according to the Open Secrets website. The world's dominant streaming-media company struck a multimillion dollar production deal with the Obamas. And in February, Netflix VP of Inclusion Vernā Myers brought in White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo to offer "light and healing" to its employees and to equip them with "an inclusion lens."
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Verna Myers leads inclusion efforts at Netflix. Marla Aufmuth/Getty
But the left appeared to sour on the company, and many employees staged a walkout, when it streamed programs in which comedian Dave Chappelle told jokes that the LGBTQ+ community complained were demeaning. Netflix then impressed conservatives by standing firm and issuing an internal memo that said, in part, "Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you'd find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you." After that, Netflix streamed comedian and actor Ricky Gervais also telling jokes deemed insensitive by LGBTQ+ advocates.
"Netflix told its employees, 'Too bad,' and that's the right message," says Danhof. "Netflix lived in that ESG universe, but ESG is a luxury that you can afford in a bull market."
Tesla founder Elon Musk, a rising hero for the right, in part after he said he voted for a Republican for the first time this year, tweeted "the woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable" after Netflix reported its first loss of subscribers in a decade.
In May, Netflix "scrapped a host of woke shows," as The Daily Mail put it. Those included Meghan Markle's animated project about a socially conscious girl; Antiracist Baby, an animated series based on Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's children's book of the same name; and Wings of Fire, which was to explore racism with Black filmmaker Ava DuVernay. Netflix did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment.
Fresh from his success selling razors, Boreing still sees Netflix—along with Disney—as a target of an expansion by The Daily Wire into streaming movies and TV shows. Its first release was 2020's Run Hide Fight, a movie about a 17-year-old girl who uses her survival skills to protect herself and her classmates against school shooters. Boreing says the movie paid for itself in its first week on The Daily Wire's subscription streaming platform despite poor reviews from established critics.
Last month, it released Terror on the Prairie, a western starring Gina Carano, the actress who was fired from the Disney+ streaming show The Mandalorian for social media posts that Disney said denigrated people "based on their cultural and religious identities." She had compared "hating someone for their political views" in the polarized U.S. to the way the Nazis treated Jews during the Holocaust. She accused Disney of bullying.
The Daily Wire, which has 600,000 subscribers, has also said it will spend $100 million on children's content. They're actually a little late to this party, as Angel Studios has for more than a year been producing The Tuttle Twins, an animated show about a boy and girl whose adventures promote free markets and decry socialism and has been streamed 1 million times on the VidAngel streaming platform and Angel app. But such competition doesn't bother Boreing.
"The target is to make the left compete," he says. "It's going to take a lot more than just The Daily Wire, since the left controls every major institution, including business. The bad news is, 99 percent of everything belongs to them; the good news is that everything is low-hanging fruit of opportunity."
0 notes
qslovebot · 3 years
Text
KISS FOR YOUR LIFE: SPENCER REID
Summary: A BAU case leads the reader to take on an undercover role to flush out a ten-person mafia. Before the work can begin, things go awry and the reader has to improvise and pretend to seduce Spencer to keep her cover and arrest the real unsub.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader
Warnings/includes: talk of murder, mentions of sex, suggested past experiences with misogyny, suggestive jokes, unsub is a radical feminist, swearing, arrests, guns, making out, sort of fluffy end.
Word Count: 4159
A/N: Written like an episode. I removed Rossi so... AU? First actual fanfic on here, tell me what you think?
Today was your first official day at the BAU, switching from two floors down as an underestimated agent to upstairs, with the Big League. Agent Hotchner decided he needed new, young-minded blood. He was notorious for picking the best of the best and after an intimidating interview with him and his brooding questions, he decided he wanted you on his team.
You had been here before, of course. You frequently visited the ever-chatting Penelope Garcia for lunch, sometimes in her office, sometimes heading downstairs for a slice of pizza or a salad. She vented about her issues, while you talked about the constant misogyny that ran through the men on your floor. She was five years older than you and decided that as your 'elder' she would put on the angry soccer mom look and kick their asses. But, lucky for you, two floors upward, the men didn't act like children on the job, so Garcia could keep her regular look.
Here it was, glass entrance, high ceilings. The air smelled like paper and was filled with a fresh sort of low mumbling and the small clicks of the keyboards. A semi-fresh start. Today you would organize your new desk, sort files, meet the others...
"Agent (Y/L/N), we have a case in Boston, we will be briefed on the jet. Get your things ready, we leave in twenty-five minutes," Agent Hotchner said as he walked by. He didn't stop for a single second, those dark dress shoes clomping heavily to the desks of your new fellow agents to inform them as well. So much for your plans.
Not wanting to appear unready, you rushed to set your things down and grab the few things you needed for the case. Hotchner had said always bring three spare outfits rolled to the smallest packing size possible, toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, and feminine hygiene products) as well as one extra pair of shoes. Those were already packed into a small bag, so in with those went your notebook, pens, and highlighter. You came prepared, so in no time, you were on the jet for the first time, exhilarated.
A hand was extended to you when you took your seat. It belonged to a man with caramel skin and a dazzling smile, "You must be (Y/L/N). The name is Derek Morgan." Anyone who used 'the name is' seemed like they felt superior in some way. It was used in the media to introduce someone of importance. 'The name is Bond, James Bond', ran through your head as you gratefully shook his hand.
"My name is Emily Prentiss and I... didn't quite catch your first name," a woman with a v-neck sweater also reached to shake your hand. "I think I may have heard it, but I must have forgotten."
"(Y/N)," you replied with a small smile. It felt nice to be greeted with kind eyes, rather than greedy ones. "It's not a very memorable name, don't worry."
Emily looked apologetic, but soon reverted to her previous smile. I was greeted by the blonde woman across the aisle, too far to shake my hand. "My name is Jennifer Jareau, I'm the media liaison, but you can call me JJ, everyone does. It's really great to meet you- for a moment I thought Penelope had made up a friend as a result of too many hours in front of a screen."
You laughed a little, ruffling your hair. She seemed outgoing, but I had already started profiling Derek Morgan and I wanted to stop there. Agent Hotchner sat down with someone I had never noticed on my visits to Penelope. I had noticed everyone else here on this jet at least once before, but... not him. How had you missed him?
He stood at about six-one, maybe six-two? He was thin, much the opposite to Morgan's greatly muscular arms. This man was calm-looking, quiet. His clothes said that maybe he was meticulous and orderly- he looked like the kind of person who didn't own a single pair of sweatpants. His face was chiselled, with a sharp jawline and cheekbones that carved the shadows on his face. His eyes, however, were much softer. Long eyelashes and dark eyes made them bigger, but they were slightly blocked by bronze-toned brown curls that at the end of his combed and gelled hair, wrapped around his jaw, neck, and face.
He was beautiful, if you were entirely frank with yourself.
And he didn't even notice you were there until Hotchner nudged his arm in a way that said 'say hello' the same way one would introduce two toddlers. You were sure you weren't a toddler and nor was this man, but it appeared you both may have been the youngest there.
When he looked your way, you wanted to look away, but couldn't. He seemed surprised to see you there and you were trying to play off the staring by introducing yourself. "Hi, I'm SSA (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I don't think we've met, it's nice to meet you." You extended your hand and he just shook his head no, his lips pressing into a tight line.
He didn't shake hands, you realized. Probably a slight germophobe. You cleared your throat, "I'm sorry if that was an uncomfortable gesture, I didn't know." Humiliating.
The tall man opened his mouth to say something, shut his mouth, opened it again but then turned a little pink and sat down immediately next to Hotchner and stared at his hands that were folded in his lap. You had thought you nailed pretty much every introduction, but this one? Fuck.
You reverted back to your business with a sigh, patting your knees. It felt like you had somehow lost something. JJ whispered to you, silently pointing to the tall man, "Dr. Spencer Reid, human encyclopedia, dictionary, and knows pretty much everything." You nodded a thank you and she nodded back.
Derek Morgan, however, tapped Emily Prentiss on the shoulder and mumbled, "Reid did his 'pretty-girl-freakout'."
Emily gasped, "Oh, he did!
The two seemed to have forgotten you were in front of them and they noticed your confusion in unison, both of them freezing up and chuckling nervously. You smiled an extremely awkward smile and left thinking about Dr. Spencer Reid for later as you got to the case.
This was about a female mafia boss who seemed to take on the personality, style, and characteristics of the taste of rich men and kill them after having sex with them. The woman was reported and seen by one witness to see her and that was the only person outside of this mafia who had seen her face, so they were working with the sketch artist and would have the picture ready and accurate upon our arrival.
Victimology was simple, she was after men who had too much power. She probably identified with being a radical feminist. She was after their money and had sex with them to dethrone them on the way. Possibly bordered on a personality disorder considering she seemed to be entirely all-in to her 'disguises'.
The funniest thing was the way they all looked at you when you announced those lines. Perhaps you would work yourself out of the 'child' stage faster than you thought.
The BAU hit the precinct in much less time than I had expected and on the ground, running. You were immediately given things to do and you were on top of it all, every order. That was until the drawing of the Mafia leader AKA 'The Seductress' was pulled up and the whole BAU gasped at how she looked EXACTLY like you.
"Do I need my cuffs?" Morgan joked. You had covered your mouth in disbelief and the rest of the room was doing double-takes.
You laughed nervously, "I swear... that isn't me, but oh my god..." Morgan was laughing and Emily and JJ whispering and had confused smiles. Spencer Reid stood in the corner, his hand on his cheek, seemingly studying the photo. He looked statue-like, borderline godly.
"Can this be used to our advantage?" Hotch launched back into technical thinking, brow furrowed. You looked at him, mouth open, but immediately shut it out of professionalism. What was going on in his head?
Reid spoke up, "If we position her just right and at the right time in one of the hotspots for that group, we can possibly get her to somehow trick the other members into some sort of turn-in."
Her. Indirect. Did you do something wrong?
"Or a simple appearance could start gossip and a possible flock to where she was spotted. As long as people aren't seeing double or reaching to do so, she can play as The Seductress." Emily said, looking at you. "Are you up to try, (Y/L/N)?"
All eyes on you. Your first day turned to chaos. But this was your job and you would prove your place here. So you agreed and in a whisk of an afternoon, you were transformed into the mirror image of The Seductress while you were talked through the plan through a radio. Turned out, so prove a professional place, you needed to make yourself look ridiculously unprofessional.
Pinned up hair, dark cat eye makeup, a dress similar to hers that happened to be on hand. Long, deep red, with a long slit up the side and your tits were practically falling out of it, but the dress fit and they were secure, so you dealt with it. There was no other space for a gun other than the side of your thigh where The Seductress kept hers knife. Now, you had to get going, meaning you had to face the BAU in the getup.
When you walked out, Derek Morgan hooted and whistled and Emily gave him a look that said 'oh lord' like an annoyed sibling. You smiled a little and essentially just kept walking, figuring if you moved, it would give them less time to stare at your tits.
Turning the corner, you noticed that Dr.Spencer Reid was much redder than he had been earlier on the jet. So maybe he really did think you were pretty. You caught yourself smiling at the thought, but shook your head free of any ideas. Professional! No crushes on Spencer Reid!
You arrived near the scene, dropped off by Hotchner. "You know what to do. Reid will be going with you to the crateyard, he will also be nearby when you head in. If you see The Seductress, do not make the arrest. If you can, lure her."
You nodded. Wow, first time in the field with the BAU and you had the leading role. No pressure, no pressure, just... everyone depending on you. But the pressure came back when you realized you had heard right and Reid was going with you, alone. You had done really well with the job so far today, minus finding the tall doctor extremely attractive. He came to stand beside you and since he was much taller than you were, you were sure he could look right down your dress without even trying. Not like anyone had to try, but he had the upper hand.
You ached to cover yourself, but that was a major risk. The Seductress was confident, she wouldn't cover-up. You got into the tinted car with Reid, him in the driver's seat and you in the passenger's seat. Silence crept up, but he turned the engine over and headed east to where the mafia was to meet up.
"Some first day," you mumbled nervously.
Reid seemed to think you had said something to him and he talked to you directly for what seemed like the first time. "P-pardon?" He had a stutter when talking to you and to be honest it was cute but there was no time to crush!
"Oh, I was just remarking to myself on how this is my first day and I'm already... so... out there." You sighed and pat your knees. The jitters crept up, but so did butterflies. "Nervous, I'm nervous."
He looked over and swallowed hard, so hard it was audible. Was he fighting the same urge to be friendlier or was he just fighting the urge to look at your tits like a twelve-year-old boy would? Either way, you were glad he was with you. He smelled like books, leather, and cologne and it was oddly calming.
You reached the other side of the crateyard in a few more minutes and he handed you your gun, which you shoved into the holster on your thigh. "You're going without a vest so... k-keep focused," Spencer said- and it seemed like he had so many words jumbled on the tip of his tongue, but refused to say them. You thought he was afraid to annoy you, as you knew he liked to give lengthy explanations. "I'll be behind, uh- the crates."
You smiled at him and watched him look away, his curls falling in his face. God, he was so gorgeous. If this went wrong, you were glad you would go with that shy look of his in the front of your mind. He pulled on his vest and you put out a hand and stopped him. "If they see you with the vest at all, in any way, they'll know what's happening."
He nodded, keeping his eyes from yours as he pulled on a plain black jacket over the vest. For a genius, he seemed to have his mind a little fuzzy tonight. In the dark of the night, the only lights were flickering lamps on high-beamed poles. Your heart was beating hard as you waited for the signal to begin to move.
"G-good luck," Spencer's words fumbled out of his mouth and I looked at him for a moment where he looked right back at you. He chewed on his bottom lip, eyelids fluttering as you tried to look anywhere else and there it was- the radio signal. The tension that was there in that brief moment defused. You gave him a small smile before opening the car door and standing tall, in the aura of The Seductress.
Spencer waited until you were out between the crates to leave the car. You heard the door shut gently behind you, but his footsteps were silent. Much quicker than you thought, there was a gruff voice that didn't belong to Spencer. "My lady, may I say what an honour it is to have you join us this evening." You spun to face a man in a dark suit. You didn't have The Seductress's voice, so you nodded in the most gracious way you could.
"Bernard and Lolita are waiting inside the abandoned building for the small exchange as well as the rest of us, but Mamacita... you're being tailed by the FBI." He said, pointing to the crate that hid Dr. Spencer Reid. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "I'll go kill him for you!"
So flat out, he wanted to kill Spencer Reid, a rotting smile on his face as if it was an act of kindness. He knew Spencer was there, he saw... but you weren't busted? God, this man was stupid.
"No," you said, in a quiet, yet strong voice, grabbing the gruff man by the shoulder pad. "He is my kill."
The man grinned an evil grin and you did your best to smile evilly in return. You showed him your gun and he rubbed his palms together. "The gluck and Glock," he chuckled. "Can I watch?"
He thought you were going to fuck and kill Spencer. Your heart skipped a beat and you tried hard not to show it. Oh no... how to work your way out of this... Spencer couldn't help you. Or... could he?
You glared at the man, "No, but I know that his team is on the way. Get Bernard, Lolita, and anyone else in on the next killings from that abandoned building and run straight west. Do not stop. I will catch up to you once I'm finished with the agent here." You improvised the best you could and this stupid man bought it. Little did he know that the team was stationed Westbound.
"Got it," his face was dazed and malevolent. "But I'm not leaving until I know you've got this handled, my lady."
"You question my skill?" You shot back, still acting.
He looked scared for a moment, "No, not at all, I just... You're a lot shorter than I was expecting."
You stared daggers, "And you insult me?"
"Just wanted to know you had it covered... in case something is fishy here..." was he really catching on or was he confused and just running through the precautions?
Fuck, you had been so focused on the cover you forgot you were a profiler. This man was small-minded, probably brought into this ordeal through family ties. Since he was so stupid, he was trusted with less... hence why he was outside the building as the lookout, rather than in on the meeting.
Why he wouldn't leave- he was so incapable of proper interaction he had never had the chance to be with a woman. Watching was the only way he would ever see. He was stupid and he was stubborn. He was not going to leave until he saw the beginning.
The best thing would be to let him stay for proof. "Fine. But when I give you my look, you run and get everyone running straight West." You narrowed your eyebrows at him and he looked like he was going to sweat out of his skin. But... this meant...
You had a few seconds, you rushed over to behind the crate to where Spencer stood, his gun in hand. "W-what are you-" he questioned in a whisper-yell.
"He's onto me, I need you to go along with this- can I kiss you, Dr.Reid?" You whispered back. His eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed pink. Once again, being professional called for being unprofessional. You really didn't want to kiss him- at least not now, not like this. He wouldn't speak and the mafia man was coming. "Reid, if I don't do this, he won't flush the group West and we'll both be shot and if not shot, targeted by a mafia!"
"Y-yes!" he practically squeaked, his back to the crate he was hiding behind. This really was the only way- this other man would not be talked down, because he was taught to just shoot, rather than listen and understand. "I'm sorry if I-"
You cut him off by reaching up, grabbing the collar of his shirt and kissing him. It took him a moment, but he kissed back. You could feel the heat off of his cheeks. The first day on the job, you had embarrassed yourself, gotten dressed like a Mafia killer, played the part, and now you were kissing Dr.Spencer Reid in a crateyard... and he was surprisingly not a bad kisser. He was a little sloppy the first few seconds but moments later, he figured it out. His one hand went on your jaw, the other on your waist, both of them shaking. You could tell that the shaking wasn't because the man watching you both right now had a gun, it was you.
You were making out with him, hard. Your body was pressed to his tightly against the crate and Spencer was holding you there. Your hands were still gripping his shirt. Messy altogether but your lips met in every perfect way. It was good, but for work. This was when you knew to stop- you had convinced the other man. You pulled away, turned your head and mouthed to the mafia man, 'GO' and he ran.
Now things would be extremely awkward. You pushed yourself away from Spencer whose hands stayed on your waist and face until you were entirely out of his reach. You laughed anxiously and he stood there, hands behind his back. That was... that was wow, but... it was for the case. For the case.
It was time to get moving. Spencer knew it, you knew it. The real Seductress was on her way. You turned your head over your shoulder and he was moving slowly, head down. You fought off a small smile. He was entirely red, gun still held loosely in his hand.
You turned your head and were met by a sharp blow to the face. Both of you had let your guard down. Stupid.
"I don't like impostors," said the female voice that was the source of the blow. Hell, it was her. Spencer clocked his gun into place and you turned, elbowing The Seductress in the chest. She returned with another hard blow that you ducked, spinning around her and kicking the back of her leg. She recovered quickly and shot up, punching you in the stomach. You lost your breath for a second and she took the opportunity to punch you in the jaw and pull a knife.
"Put the knife down!" Spencer called. His voice was stronger facing a woman with a sharp knife than it was when talking to you alone. "I know who you are, you want what's right for women, correct?"
The Seductress narrowed her eyes at him like her next meal, leaving you on the ground. Would Spencer shoot if she threw that knife? Odd she didn't have a gun on her. She must have been relying on the others for more protection. You stood up quietly, watching her slowly advance on Spencer. He had your lipstick smeared over his lips, he looked rough, but he held his gun out in front of him and had the other hand up to reason with her. "Men like you think yourselves above women. You, FBI, you think yourself better than men and women alike because you're the authority. Tell me, how do you like your women, Agent?"
He gulped, eyes flickering to you. You pulled out your gun. "I think... I think I'm a weak man and I'm no better than anyone. I don't deserve women." Spencer said, looking at the evil lady. In person, she looked a lot less like you.
"Lies. It's the instinct of men to feel superior to women. You'll have a lot less instinct when you're dead!" She snarled, lunging at him with her blade out. You pulled the trigger, she fell to the ground. Not dead, but wounded to pass out. Spencer narrowly jumped out of her way, watching her knife clatter to the ground.
You looked up at Spencer, bewildered. You had done it. You saved the case, took down a murderous mafia boss. It was only when Spencer pointed at your face and said, "Y-you're bleeding, (Y/N), are you okay?"- that you noticed your cut lip and the blood pouring from your forehead. But you also noticed he called you by your first name.
He reached a hand forward but retracted it when you winced from the sudden pain. Adrenaline took the pain away temporarily, you supposed. There were still things to be done. Spencer called for backup and a medic and watched as you cuffed the woman. She wasn't going to die, but she did need help.
Once medics arrived, Spencer drove you both back to the Westward situation, where ten arrests had been made. You were in a state of haze, so how Spencer's jacket got around your shoulders was a mystery. When you stepped out of the car, you were greeted by the rest of the agents.
"Are you okay?!" Prentiss was the first to greet you both. She grabbed you by the shoulders and looked at the nearly-dried blood on your skin. "We got worried when you didn't follow soon after, you got her?"
"Yeah," you smiled tiredly.
She grinned back. "Fill us in on the details on the way back, okay? Let's get you two cleaned up."
But Derek Morgan found Spencer, "Hey pretty-boy, is that royal rouge you've got on your lips there?" he teased. Spencer panicked and looked into the mirror of the nearest car, seeing that he did in fact have your lipstick on his mouth. He tried to wipe it off with his wrist, but it still stained. You wiped your own lip with your thumb and Derek caught you. "Okay, Miss Newbie, I see you."
Your eyes widened and Emily raised her eyebrows at you, a teasing smile on her lips. "It was to keep my cover. It's what sent those guys your way, one of them has serious sexual issues." You made sure they knew it- to save yourself and to save Spencer. Derek Morgan spun away with a huge knowing grin, back to Hotchner who was conversing with the Chief of Police. Emily pulled you away to the other medics and you shot Spencer a smile as you went.
He smiled back, still wiping off his mouth.
-tags
@ellyhotchner @softhairedhotch <3
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that-soccer-guru · 3 years
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I bet Chesky heard I was going to bed for the 2nd half because I was ready to drop dead from exhaustion and said "oh yes, I am gonna be SUCH a shit ref and lose COMPLETE control of this game"
In a dramatic reenactment of the classic Thorns v Royals Royal Rumble match, 3 fucking red cards were handed out. One to Charley who apparently did deserve to be carded and wasn't involved in the subsequent kerfuffle. 1 to Kristen Edmonds for throwing hands and 1 to Morgan Weaver for this action.
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NOW I KNOW PEOPLE ARE SAYING THEY'RE BOTH TO BLAME, AND I GET IT, BUT MOST OF THIS ISN'T NEW IN SOCCER.
Did Edmonds pull Weaver down? yes. But Weaver also had her arm around Edmonds when they fell, so that was 50-50, as a ref I wouldn't give a card there bc they both got up just fine. Does the fall affect possession of the ball? No, the ball is cleared and there's no clear game advantage being lost so, no cards.
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Did Weaver fully LOOK at Edmonds getting up and rough housed her to get her to slow down? Absolutely, and Edmonds is pretty innocent there because she was running, not looking at Weaver, and hit Weaver in the chest, shoulder first, because Weaver ran INTO her. But again, no cards if this was the end of it because if the last thing didn't deserve a card neither does this, it's pretty usual soccer stuff to try to slow someone down when they're running. It also has nothing to do with game play. No ball is near, possession isn't being fought over. Keep it moving. They could've kept running after the shoves.
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NOW WHERE WE GET INTO CARD TERRITORY. Shoving? Fine. Pushing? Fine. Pulling eachother down like idiots? Fine. THROWING HANDS AT YOUR OPPONENT'S FACE? NOT FINE
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Boy, sis straight up shoved Weaver's face into next Sunday. THAT is something you give a card for. And she's instigating more of a fight. Edmonds had to MAKE THE CHOICE to tippy toe to reach Weaver's face. That deserves a red card. Does Weaver deserve a yellow for the shove? yes, because that kicked off the rage I guess. NOW A REF DOESNT HAVE THIS TO REWATCH, THEY HAVE WHAT THEY'VE SEEN HAPPEN, AND THATS WHY BOTH PLAYERS GET KICKED OUT OF THE GAME!
And its a valid choice, when you put all the roughhousing together its only fair that BOTH players get kicked out, because they're disrupting the game.
YOU KNOW WHO ABSOLUTELY DESERVES TO GET A RED CARD? Chesky. This is happening in extra time—this is the product of shitty reffing. A good ref will either talk to the players when giving out warnings DURING THE 90MIN OF THE GAME and tell the players if they don't slow it down they're gonna get kicked out, or talk to the coaches and warn them that a player is cruising for a card. Good refs DONT put their whistle in their mouth and whistle 50 times at a player when they do something. A good ref TALKS to a fucking player when they're clearly getting heated, a good ref TALKS to a player when they get a warning. And a good ref Chesky is not.
The thorns have grounds for appealing this, if the card is being given out over the fight Weaver clearly didn't fight back. Did she shove Edmonds? yes. Did they BOTH shove eachother to the ground? yes. But Weaver didn't fight back and with some retrospect I could see why a committee could take the card back. Edmonds however deserves a few games suspension, not just the one game for the red card. She made a choice to THROW HANDS AT WEAVER'S FACE and that is not part of the game—players should be better than that, this isn't a playground or a high school, it's a whole professional league and to put hands on a coworker like THAT is not acceptable. That was beyond the game.
One more for the Chesky saga.
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Ships You Can Ship In Cats 1998 Part 5: Grizabella, Gus, Jellylorum
The last entry was all about young people, and now it’s time to honor our elders!
Usual Warnings and Disclaimers:
1. Ships for Alonzo were in part 1. Asparagus, Bombalurina, and Bustopher were in part 2. Cassandra, Coricopat, and Demeter were in part 3. Electra, Etcetera, and George were in part 4. I don’t repeat ships, so if you want ships with any of them, look at those parts.
2. Sensitives pairings, though rarely ever serious, are inevitable.
3. I don’t ship all or even most of these. I’m just covering all the bases.
So, Grizabella.
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Grizabella is only around for a few scenes, limiting the number of ships that can be spotted, but I have a decent amount.
1. Grizabella/Munkustrap
I actually don’t see much evidence for this one, but Jacob Brent said in his commentary that Munk and Griz “had a thing”. That’s vague language, but if this production, or any of the others he was in played it this way, it wouldn’t be the only production to do so. I’ve heard a podcast interview with a Grizabella from US Tour V who said that Grizabella and Munkustrap were the parents of Victoria in her version. Victoria doesn’t know this, but she’s drawn to Grizabella anyway and Griz has a reason to want to get close to her specifically. Munk is basically treating the situation like a custody battle after a messy divorce.
So, because some productions have this as an element, here:
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All the ship screenshots get scribbled on now.
2. Grizabella/Old Deuteronomy
This one’s popular. He’s old, she’s old, he’s nice to her, and he’s usually only male character to do that.
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Yeah, that’s what’s happening in this scene. Griz leaves before Old D can approach her. Also, he can’t make her the Jellicle Choice without the rest of the tribe being for it, or they might get mad and they won’t learn anything.
3. Grizabella/Pouncival
This is only here because Pouncival flirts with Griz before shoving her and most Pouncival/Carbuckettys/Broadway Tumblebrutus’ don’t do that.
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Pouncival got laid at the Jellicle Ball and is in a bit of a mood, while still wanting to be mean to Grizabella like before. Unlike in other productions, he was never really punished for that incident, so here he goes again. But, having seen quite a few different productions, both old and new, whether it’s Carbucketty/Pouncival or Tumblebrutus, he just shoves Grizabella. Karl Morgan or someone involved in staging the filmed version must’ve decided to get creative.
4. Grizabella/Victoria
Joke ship time! Although Victoria is one of three cats who try to touch Griz (it’s a welcome into the group) more than once, she has a uniquely strong reaction to being stopped:
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I already posted the three screenshots I scribbled on for this, but I’ll do it again.
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And when she finally succeeds in her task.
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If Grizabella hadn’t been cast out of the tribe, I think Victoria would be very similar with her to the way Misto is with Bustopher.
Okay, this has gotten weird. Let’s talk about Gus for a second.
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Gus is another character who isn’t there for much, and unlike Grizabella, he doesn’t interact with very many characters when he’s around. This means that there’s really only one ship for him.
The Only Gus Ship: Gus/Jellylorum
Another popular pairing, though not as much as in other productions. 1998 has a separate Asparagus who’s not quite as ancient as Gus, but most stage productions don’t really do that. So, most of the shipping of Jelly and Gus is shifted over to the separate Asparagus character.
But, Jellylorum is the only character Gus really interacts with and she clearly loves him, perhaps in a romantic way, perhaps not. It doesn’t matter to the story what type of love it is.
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And speaking of Jellylorum...
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We’ve got a few more ships here, with a lot of There Was a Tiny Detail and I Made a Thing Out of It involved.
1. Jellylorum/Jennyanydots
Another pair of besties that, like all pairs of besties, can easily be read as something else. Here’s a classic Security Cling:
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Strangely, though Jenny seems to be the braver of the two here, they switch that role later on. Though Jenny attacks Macavity first, she’s still nervous and reluctant, while Jelly looks ready to fucking murder.
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Anyway, they’re the Tribe Moms and Macavity attacked the kittens, so he gonna die.
2. Jellylorum/Munkustrap
This one’s a bit complicated and it’s more of an either/or with another ship. I’ll get to that in a second.
This is another case where you have a moment with Munkustrap + an Older Queen + at least one kitten, looking like a family unit. I say “another” because this won’t be the last time.
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Any combination of Tribe Mom/Tribe Dad can be shippable at some point.
3. Jellylorum/Old Deuteronomy
Here’s where the complicated comes in. During Memory, the tribe are all sitting in their corners. Munkustrap is right beside his dad, which makes sense, but Jelly, Asparagus, and Victoria are also up there like members of the family. It makes sense for Jelly to stay close to Victoria, since she seems to be the adult who takes responsibility for her, but why are they right by the royal family?
Okay, the practical reason for this is because Victoria’s gonna do something important and we need the Important People in frame when it happens. Victoria touching Grizabella is important because the adults allow it. Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap are the highest authorities and she only approaches Griz at the end with their permission. Jellylorum is there because she’s the one who stopped Victoria from touching Griz before. Every single time she tried it was Jelly specifically who stopped her, so it’s important to show Jelly specifically letting her go. This is as much her Moment of Character Development as it is Munkustrap’s. So, she’s gotta be by Munkustrap who’s gotta be by Old D, so they’re all together.
But, in-universe, it implies that Jelly has a high rank in the tribe, the queen beside the king or prince.
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And there’s that character development! Asparagus, who hasn’t participated much in this plot, just watches Victoria, but both Munk and Jelly turn to Old Deuteronomy, trying to decide if they should allow this. Old D gives Victoria the go ahead, but these two have to agree first. Munk is more actively in-charge of the tribe than Old D is and Jelly is in-charge of Victoria, for whatever reason, so the decision is theirs. But, with them in-charge of Victoria together in this moment, they come across as her parents.
As for why Asparagus is up there, it’s because he’s a stand-in for Gus, who, when everyone’s taking shelter, would naturally be wherever Jelly is.
Okay, that was pretty heavy for what’s usually a series of shipping jokes, so we’ll end on something that’s not even a ship, but it’s funny:
Not 4. Jellylorum/Tugger
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Not a ship, but he does kiss her.
...Okay, I just really like this screenshot and wanted to post it. Deal.
Next time: Jemima, Jennyanydots, and Something Involving Macavity
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majinkura · 3 years
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Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter ( 1984)
Did You Know?👇👇👇👇🤔
The strange dance which Jimbo performs at the party was contributed by actor Crispin Glover and was based on the eccentric way he actually danced in clubs. On the set he was dancing to "Back in Black" by AC/DC as the scene was filmed. In the film however an edited version of "Love Is a Lie" by Lion was dubbed into the scene.
Last film in the series to pick up immediately where the previous film left off. At 58 years old at the time Ted White is the oldest stuntman/actor to portray Jason Voorhees. On a budget of $1,800,000 the film made $32,600,000 at the box office.
At the time, this installment of the series contained the most nudity and gore. The film was released on Friday the 13th: April 13, 1984.
In Turkey, this film, and the next sequel, Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning (1985), were released at the same time. People could watch both films back to back. Even the posters for both movies were displayed next to each other.
(at around 1h 2 mins) In one scene, Rob talks to Trish about his sister, Sandra. Sandra was one of Jason's victims in Friday the 13th - Part II (1981).
(at around 10 mins) The workout video Axel watches is Aerobicise (1982). It stars Darcy DeMoss who went on to have a role in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986).
This is the only film in the series to shoot new footage using sets and locations from a previous film. The beginning takes place on the set of Friday the 13th - Part III (1982), before moving to a new location.
Director Joseph Zito was opposed to using clips from previous installments at the beginning of the film.
(at around 9 mins) The nurse's name tag reads "R. Morgan, RN," an homage to actress Robbi Morgan, who played Annie in Friday the 13th (1980).
During filming Kimberly Beck, who plays Trish, experienced strange occurrences including a man watching her while she ran in the park and strange phone calls at all hours. This stopped when production was over.
Though he disliked being involved with the film, Ted White is considered by many fans to be one of the best Jasons.
(at around 9 mins) The moment where Jason's hand moves in the morgue was done by Ted White after Joseph Zito had called cut on the scene. However, the camera was still rolling, and caught this movement, and it was included in the film.
Writer Barney Cohen originally wrote a scene involving Jason fondling Trish's breasts but the producers vetoed it. Director Joseph Zito also disliked the scene because it made Jason seem too human and less menacing. The scene was excised.
Joseph Zito had previously directed The Prowler (1981), but they wanted him to both direct AND write Friday the 13th Part 4. He said, "But I'm not a writer," to which they said, "Here's a contract paying you double to write and direct," and then he responded, "Yeah, I'm totally a writer." Zito used the extra salary to hire Barney Cohen to somewhat secretly write the script. Their process entailed Zito taking nightly one-hour phone calls with Phil Scuderi to discuss the story and script for Final Chapter. The next day Zito would meet Cohen in an apartment in New York to relay what notes and ideas Scuderi had offered, which they would then turn into new script pages to be sent later that day to Scuderi in Boston to be discussed again over the phone that night.
Camilla More actually read for the role of Samantha, but when the producers discovered she had a twin, they offered both sisters the roles of Tina and Terri.
It is played for humor throughout Final Chapter that young Tommy Jarvis (Feldman) is suddenly surrounded by horny teenagers renting a cabin he can see into from his own house. However, the reality of the situation is that those actresses were indeed very or partially naked, and Corey Feldman was still young enough that Erich Anderson and Kimberly Beck took him trick-or-treating the first day of filming since it happened to be October 31, 1983. So, they shielded 12-year-old Feldman from most of the bad stuff, using tricky editing when necessary. What they could not control was the power of a low-cut top sans bra underneath. According to Feldman, in the scene in which Jodie Aronson's character bends over to greet Tommy's dog unbeknownst to anyone but Feldman he could see down her low-cut top.
It has been suggested that the only reasons Tom Savini worked as make-up artist on this film was in order that he could accurately age and properly kill the character he created from the first film.
Barbara Howard used a body double for her shower sex scene.
After Jason actor Ted White finished his scenes for this film, he immediately started work on Starman (1984). While on set for the night's filming, a group of reporters were waiting to interview Jeff Bridges, but he was unavailable. Therefore, director, John Carpenter, told the reporters to talk to White about the film he had recently finished. After telling the reporters he had just finished playing Jason in the latest Friday the 13th film, the next day's article was entirely about him, and that night, numerous "Friday" fans arrived at the set solely in order to see White.
Jason actor Ted White and special effects artist Tom Savini at first were confrontational with one another. But once White found out Savini had experience with stunts, the two became friends.
Rob was originally supposed to have high-tech equipment which he had used to track Jason, but the props for this looked cheap, and the idea was scrapped.
The film takes place on Sunday the 15th and beyond which makes it the second "Friday" film not to actually take place on a Friday at all. While the beginning with the coroners takes place during the night of Sunday the 15th, the rest of the film takes place on Monday the 16th, with Tuesday the 17th being the climactic night.
Even though he plays her son, Ted White (Jason Voorhees) is actually 11 months older than Betsy Palmer (Pamela Voorhees).
Rather than making masks, Tommy was originally going to have been an inventor. One of his projects was a device made from a microwave oven, which would have been what he used to kill Jason. Some of this is seen in the final product in a scene where he helps repair a car.
Amy Steel talked Peter Barton into doing the film. By the time the Final Chapter offer came around Matthew Star was off the air, and Barton wanted no part of horror films, having hated working on Hell Night in 1981. Amy Steel somehow talked him into it, selling him on the notoriety of starring in the final Friday the 13th film.
Director Joseph Zito wanted Jason's hockey mask to explode apart in the opening credits, but there was not enough time in post-production to pull off this gag.
Paramount was originally going to release the film in October, 1984. After filming wrapped in January Paramount studio head Frank Mancuso Sr. screened footage of the film to much enthusiasm. After a window opened up the release date was changed to April upon confirmation from Joseph Zito that he could complete the film faster than planned. This led to Zito, producer Frank Mancuso Jr., and a crew of editors essentially remaining locked in a house in Malibu editing around the clock in order to finish the film on time. This marked one of the only times that Paramount actively helped in the production of a Friday the 13th film, as they were generally produced independently, with the studio only handling marketing and distribution.
The house used for the Jarvis home was later used as the Anderson home in the film Ed Gein (2000) where serial killer Ed Gein is apprehended.
Bonnie Hellman's agents told her about a possible role in this film - the hitchhiker - but then told her that she would not want to do it, as there were no lines. However, she ended up taking the role anyway.
Kimberly Beck stated in the Crystal Lake Memories book that she does not like the horror genre. In addition to this, she also said that she feels this film was not even a B-movie, but rather a C-movie.
Distinguished film critic Roger Ebert called this film "an immoral and reprehensible piece of trash."
The Jarvis family's dog, Gordon, was named after a recently deceased dog which a friend of director Joseph Zito owned.
Peter Barton was talked into taking a role in this film by his The Powers of Matthew Star (1982) co-star Amy Steel who played Ginny in Friday the 13th - Part II (1981).
The female hitchhiker was called "Fat Girl" in the original draft of the script.
The poster shows the hockey mask with a knife on its left eyesocket. Jason is defeated with a machete going through his left eye.
Kimberly Beck is the only Friday the 13th actress that appeared in an Alfred Hitchcock film. She worked on Marnie (1964), exactly 20 years prior to this. She plays the little girl that Marnie's mother babysits.
The film was shot entirely in California.
Carey More's audition was to simply read one line.
Lisa Freeman, who played Nurse Morgan, and Crispin Glover, who played Jimmy Mortimer, both would go on to be in the Back To The Future movies. Crispin Glover played George McFly in Back to the Future (1985) and Lisa Freeman played Babs in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to Future, part II (1989).
(at around 20 mins) The Jarvis family sandwich hug was based on a group hug that screenwriter Barney Cohen's family did.
Jason's death won the Golden Chainsaw Award in Dead Meat's "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" kill count.
This is considered by many fans, to be the best and most popular Friday the 13th film.
The Jarvis family car is a 1970 Dodge Polara.
Rob's rifle is a Winchester Model 70.
Rob looks to be the main male hero of the film to work alongside Final Girl Trish. Instead he dies almost immediately after encountering Jason, with the real Final Guy of the film being Tommy
The ambulance driver played by Antony Ponzini & Axel and the coroner played by Bruce Mahler both appeared on the sitcom Seinfled. Ponzini as Jerry's barber Enzo and Mahler as the Rabbi in Elaine's building.
Was released in theaters, directly a week before Crispin Glover's (Jimmy) 20th birthday.
Tracy Jarvis' fate and death would have been more further explained in a deleted scene that had been cut from the film. An alternate ending to the film, included in the 2009 Deluxe Edition DVD, shows a dream sequence where Trish and Tommy wake up the next morning after killing Jason to the sound of police sirens. Trish sends Tommy to summon the police who have arrived next door. At that point she notices water dripping from the ceiling and goes to investigate. She enters the upstairs bathroom, and finds the body of her mother floating in a tub full of bloody water. Trish lifts her mother out of the tub, prompting Tracy's eyes to open, revealing them to be solid white and devoid of irises. Jason suddenly appears from behind the bathroom door and prepares to attack Trish. Trish then suddenly wakes up in the hospital in a scene reminiscent of the ending of the first movie.
Ted White was uncredited as Jason Voorhees by his own request.
The twins are played by real life sisters Camilla and Carey More, who both also appeared on the daytime soap opera Days of our Lives as Gillian and Grace Forrester. More stars from the soap DAYS also appear in further Friday The 13th sequels like Renee Jones in Part 6, and Kevin Spirtas and Staci Greason in Part 7. Other soap stars that appeared in Friday The 13th films include Kevin Bacon, Russell Todd, Lauren Marie Taylor, Dana Kimmell, Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, Jennifer Cooke, Michael Swan, and Scott Reeves.
Paul's car is a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Estate station wagon.
According to Ted White, he and director Joseph Zito did not get along very well during filming.
The actress playing Trish's mother was only 14 years and 1 day older than her.
Both Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover later appeared in different films with actor Kiefer Sutherland in the same year: Feldman in Stand by Me (1986) and Glover in At Close Range (1986).
Pamela Voorhees' first name appears on a tombstone.
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theradioghost · 4 years
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...ok what's up with corsets?
I mean, mostly just a lot of misconceptions about how they worked and what they were for. I’m going to ramble a lot here, but please know that I am not by any definition an expert on any of this, just a 19th century lit major who’s studied a lot of historical context stuff for research and fun purposes.
One clarification is, to simplify the complex and annoying evolution of language over centuries, if it’s from the  early 1800s or later, it’s a corset. If it’s from the 16th-18th centuries, it’s “stays” or a “pair of bodies.” (I think bodies was an earlier term more commonly used for outer garments while stays were undergarments, but don’t quote me on that.) Stays were basically conical with quite a long torso, and you couldn’t lace them particularly tight because metal eyelets weren’t invented until the 1830s and the fabric couldn’t take that strain. Depending on the fashion at the time, their basic function was to create a perfectly smooth, very long silhouette, push your boobs up, or both. Typically their structure came from cording, reeds, whalebone, or layers of paste-stiffened fabric; steel stays from this period are essentially orthopedic devices (or, and I’m obsessed with this idea: fakes created by 19th century fetishists. There’s a reason the 19th century is my favorite historical period and it’s because everything was absolutely nuts, all the time). They also fell in and out of fashion at times – if you look at the naturalistic, Grecian styles of European dresses in the 1820s, for example, many women were wearing either very light stays just to push their bust up, or none at all.
Some nice examples of stays from this period are this, this, and this, from the V&A’s collections. Looking at most portraiture of women from the 16-1700s also pretty clearly displays the conical silhouette that stays produced, but I’m going to refrain from adding images to this post because I already suspect that it’s going to be incredibly, frustratingly long.
Women basically weren’t wearing structured undergarments before the Renaissance, so medieval stays are not a thing.. Although on a fascinating side note, a few years back someone found a bunch of medieval bras, which we had no idea were a thing until then, so that’s really cool. 
Regardless of whether you’re talking stays or corsets, two important things. First of all, they were not worn directly against the skin what the hell, firstly because that is incredibly uncomfortable, and secondly because in periods where most people owned fairly little clothing and a lot of that was wool, having a linen or cotton undergarment under all your clothes helped keep them cleaner by separating them from your skin. Historically most often that was a shift, basically just a big long undershirt thing.
The second important thing is whalebone, historically always the number one material for corset boning. Whalebone is an incredibly misleading name, and I hate it, because it took me forever to learn that “whalebone” is not bone but baleen, the bristly stuff that filter-feeding whales have instead of teeth. It’s made from keratin, same as our hair and fingernails. It’s light, flexible, and becomes bendable with warmth, meaning that over time, the boning of a corset would conform to your natural body shape as it was warmed by your body heat, and would stay in that shape. All-steel boning only really became A Thing in the last couple of decades that corsets were an everyday garment for most women, and that wasn’t because of superior structural properties. It was because it was cheaper, given that after centuries of whaling, there were a lot fewer whales to hunt, and acquiring baleen became more expensive and difficult. Even then, a lot of manufacturers just moved to things like featherboning (made from the shafts of feathers), coraline (made from a plant whose name I cannot remember), cane, or just cording (often cotton or paper cords), rather than steel. They also tended to use spiral steels, which can flex more, as opposed to solid steel bones. The main use of steel in corsets was actually to reinforce the closures, the front busk and the back where it laced.
(Most modern corsets are either all-steel waist training corsets or “fashion corsets” boned with flimsy plastic, but there’s actually a modern product called synthetic whalebone which is a plastic designed to replicate the properties of baleen as closely as possible.)
Then we get to the Victorian period, and that’s where pop culture really kind of loses its shit over the idea of corsetry? All the fainting and shifting organs and women getting ribs surgically removed (what) and generally the impression that Corsets Are Horrible Death Garments.
Tightlacing is one of the big things here. Yes, there were Victorian women who tightlaced to reduce their waists to dramatic extremes, and it was not healthy. There are also women today who put themselves through dangerous, unbelievable things to achieve the most fashionable body possible (tw in that link for disordered eating, self-harm, and abuse), and that article only covers the extremes of the professional modeling industry, not everyday things like high heels, for example. Most women who were tightlacing were young, wealthy, and fashionable, not worrying about being healthy enough to work as long as they could achieve ideal beauty – the same people who do this kind of thing now. And part of the reason we know so much about it is that it was extreme and uncommon even then. Medical experts ranted about the dangers of tightlacing, people campaigned against it. It was definitely not the case that all women were going around suffocating in tightlaced corsets all the time.
It’s worth considering our sample of evidence. You see a lot of illustrated fashion plates, which don’t look like real women now, and didn’t then either. By the late 1800s, photographers had already figured out plenty of tricks with angles and posing to make a model look as wasp-waisted as possible. They would also just straight up paint women’s waists smaller in a lot of pictures. And when you consider surviving garments, a disproportionate number of them are from rich young women who hadn’t yet married and had children, because for a variety of reasons those tend to be the clothes that are preserved and survive. The constantly-swooning women of Victorian literature are for some reason presumed to be representative of real life and the constriction of corsets – let me tell you, as someone who studied 19th century literature specifically, everything is exaggerated and melodramatic, especially extremes of emotion (and men also swoon a lot too). It also seems weird that we nod along unquestioning with the most extreme claims of 19th century panics about the medical harm of corsets (rib removal? with 19th century surgery???) and then just mock those silly, stupid Victorians when we read about things like bicycle face or the claim that fast vehicles would make women’s uteruses fly out of their bodies or whatever.
In fact, corsets were a pretty sensible garment in a lot of ways. They seem really restrictive to us now, but historical garments in general didn’t stretch the way modern knit fabrics do. In addition to supporting the bust just like any modern bra, corsets could actually make moving and breathing easier by helping to support the weight of ridiculously heavy dresses. Women did in fact live everyday, active lives wearing them, including lower-class women who worked physically demanding jobs. Late-Victorian women actually started doing a lot more sports, including cycling – that cyclist at the top of the bicycle face article is definitely wearing a corset, for example. They were used to them, too, and used to the specific ways you move in those kind of clothes, which most modern folks who try to wear that stuff one time are not. One interesting thing I’ve heard is that while corsets helped posture a lot – a lot of people today use them medically to help with back pain and support for just that reason – over time that understandably means that if you’re always wearing a corset, your abdominal muscles won’t be very strong because they’re not doing as much work keeping your posture straight. No ab crunches for Victorian women I guess.
Looking at extant Victorian-era clothing, the fashionable wasp-waisted silhouette actually had a lot more to do with the optical illusion achieved with extensive padding, which widened the hips and turned the upper body into a smooth, Chris-Evans-esque triangle. In comparison, the waist looks smaller. (Seriously, look up some photos of late 19th century ladies, their whole front upper body is this perfectly smooth convex curve. That’s all padding.) Silhouette was what the Victorians really cared about, and padding is a lot more sensible and comfortable than tightlacing.
My basic point here is just I guess that there’s a common and weirdly moralizing perception now that the historical corset was, invariably, this horrible constricting heavy steel cage thing that damaged your health and was a Tool Of Patriarchal Oppression. There’s also a lot of really bad costuming in historical dramas. I just think the reality is a lot more interesting. Also that modern steel waist training corsets kind of terrify me?
If you want more info and some good primary and academic sources from people who actually study and recreate historical garments and Actually Know Things, I recommend Bernadette Banner’s videos (here and here) on corsets – also just her stuff in general, I’ve been incredibly happy to see her gaining a lot of attention lately because she’s delightful – this video by historical costumer Morgan Donner wearing a corset daily for a week and talking about what it feels like, and this article, which cites among other things a really interesting late-19th-century study by a doctor trying to actually gather data on corsetry and its effects. Also for that matter, the aforementioned YouTube costumers have respectively made 17th-century stays and a late 19th-century corset, and seeing how these garments are put together is really interesting.
(I feel like I heard somewhere once that S-shape corsets from 1900-1910ish might have been more potentialy harmful because they did weird things to your back posture, but honestly my historical knowledge and interest drops precipitiously when you hit the 20th century.)
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Casting The Batman
Director Matt Reeves said in a Q&A that he expects THE BATMAN to start production at the end of this year.  Now that's still quite a way off, but for that to happen a few things need to happen... like casting.
It's be confirmed that Ben Affleck has stepped away from the Batcave, and we're now looking at a new actor putting on the cowl.
Firstly, we need to asses... is Reeves' Batflick part of the DCEU, or does it stand aside, like the upcoming JOKER movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, despite the fact Jared Leto is expected to carry on as the Clown Prince of Crime within the shared universe.
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Why is this important?  Well, Whilst Affleck is going off, that doesn't mean the supporting characters have to change cast, especially if it's in the shared universe.   Particular roles are in place.  Jeremy Irons as played Alfred in two movies now, and JK Simmons popped up in the JUSTICE LEAGUE as Commissioner James Gordon.   Either of those actors could continue.  Even if this movie is in the past.  Sure a younger actor in either part may make sense, but CAPTAIN MARVEL just proved you can do a whole film with nifty de-aging effects (Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury).
Whilst I will, naturally, look towards who could be cast in supporting (and villainous) roles, right now we're going to focus on the big issue.  Who should play Batman?
Below are a list of different actors who I've seen suggested, or am suggesting myself, that could end up as the next Dark Knight. I've included a variety of ages too... just covering the bases.
KARL URBAN
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This one was an obvious inclusion. Before Affleck was announced, Urban was my (and seemingly half the internet) top choice.  Probably best known currently as Dr McCoy in the new age STAR TREK movies, he also appeared as DREDD, and more recently played Skurge in THOR: RAGNAROK over in the MCU.  He's around the same age as Affleck (both born in 1972), so this would be more of a direct recast, but a popular one I believe.
ROBERT PATTINSON
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Urg.  No.  This would annoy me... but a major rumour recently was that the TWILIGHT star was in talks for Bruce Wayne and his alter ego.  To be honest, it wouldn't be the WORST casting in the DCEU (Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, anyone?) and I would still give the guy a go.  It's just not a casting I'd be excited about. With Pattinson we'd have a Batman in his early 30s.
ARMIE HAMMER
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The funny thing with this one... it was basically reported that Hammer had got the job.  The actor had to debunk the casting himself.  There's quite a fanbase for the actor to get this role, and to be fair, he had once been attached to a Batman role in the past, when he was cast as Bruce Wayne in a defunct JUSTICE LEAGUE movie.   Still, whilst the actor said nobody (in power) had talked to him, the media buzz may have brought him to the attention of Reeves... so I wouldn't rule out this casting entirely.   I'd certainly prefer it to Pattinson.  Both actors are the same actor as 32.
AIDAN TURNER
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This Irish actor is very popular with the ladies (good for Bruce Wayne) and was a sheer highlight as vampire Mitchell in BEING HUMAN (the UK series)… He's currently the heartthrob lead in POLDARK, and was the heartthrob dwarf Kili in THE HOBBIT trilogy.   And whilst there probably has been a lot of onus on his looks, he just happens to be a really good actor, and in his mid 30s, I believe shouldn't be dismissed as a potential Batman (or Bond!).
TARON EGERTON
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Now, this wouldn't be an ideal choice, but I'm throwing it in there.  Egerton's currently 29, so the youngest on my list at this point, and he's making quite a name for himself.  I think his best qualification for Batman is his role in the KINGSMAN franchise, but he also recently played ROBIN HOOD.  He's possibly a little on the short side for Batman, and whilst he has the physicality for the role, I don't think he's the best fit for Bruce Wayne.  However, I would definitely put him near the top of a NIGHTWING list.  As Dick Grayson does become Batman at some point, I thought it'd be fair to include him on here.
K J APA
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Apa's the youngest person on this list at 21. If I'm honest, I'm not sure he quite has the charisma for Bruce Wayne, and he feels a little young for Bats, but that might be what Reeves is looking for.  Apa is Archie, the lead character in RIVERDALE, and he does get to play detective - which plays into comments Reeves has made.
KIT HARINGTON
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Funnily enough, I was actually going to include Harington's onscreen brother Richard Madden, from GAME OF THRONES but I've switched it.  Harington certainly has the broody look down.  We all know how Batman likes to brood, and with GoT coming to an end, Kit's probably looking for a new high-profile acting gig.  THE BATMAN wouldn't be a bad way to go.  Not sure how people would take to this casting though, I'm not sure how the actor is perceived in the public eye. Agewise, he's inline with the likes of Pattinson and Hammer.
LIAM NEESON
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I said, I'd be cover all the bases, and this one's going the other way, with an older actor. Liam Neeson is 66.   He's already been a part of the Batworld, featuring in THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy as villain R'as Al Ghul. But what if we turned that around and made him the big man himself.  Casting Zeus, Aslan and Qui-Gon Jinn as Batman works for me!
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN
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Okay, so this is not a clear-cut choice... but I'm throwing it out there anyway.  Morgan played Thomas Wayne in the opening scenes of BATMAN V SUPERMAN.   We know that there's an upcoming move (supposedly) based on FLASHPOINT, and in that, rather than Bruce becoming Batman, his father does instead.  What if the DCEU are clever and tie this alternative reality into the cast change... handing the cowl over to Morgan.  Personally I like it.  Recasting Batman without recasting Bruce Wayne.  Morgan is in his 50s, and currently plays the violent Negan in THE WALKING DEAD.
BRAD PITT
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No, really.  Like Morgan, Pitt is in his 50's, but he's still got that good-looking, swagger (perfect for an aging Bruce), and he'd be a pretty commercial choice I think. Plus, Pitt is a pretty decent actor.  He'd be able to display a few different facets for the caped crusader, and might be able to channel that dark SEVEN vibe, tying in with Matt Reeves'  noir detective tale.
Now, I should probably start wrapping this list up.   I've already listed 10, but there's still two more I think deserve a mention.  One positive, one negative. 
JAKE GYLLENHAAL
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Now, you're probably expecting Jake to be the positive, but no.  I do not like the idea of him playing Batman.  He's not right for the role.  So why am I including him now?   Gyllenhaal was a possible casting way back when Christian Bale was cast.  As were Joshua Jackson and Wes Bentley.   I'd actually rather Bentley get given the shot of any of them, but Jake gets the mention because apparently Matt Reeves may have his eye on him.   I'm not against JG as an actor, in fact I'm looking forward to his turn as Mysterio in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME over at the MCU.  I just don't think he'd be *my* Batman if he were to be cast.
Which leaves us with...
OSCAR ISAAC
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I saw Isaac's name pop up on another list, and you know what... I wouldn't mind it.  I wouldn't have thought of him myself,  He's half Guatemalan, half Cuban, which would add ethnicity to the character that had typically been played by straight up white American or Brits, with being as controversial as, say casting Idris Elba (who, incidentally has joined the DCEU as Deadshot, replacing Will Smith).  Isaac is suave enough to play Bruce, and intense enough to play Batman.  He's a good actor, and now has quite a following thanks to his part in the current STAR WARS trilogy.  Of the twelve candidates listed here, he's definitely up the top end for me.
It would have been quite easy to fall in with listing every dark-haired furrow-browed actor in Hollywood, but I tried to streamline the list a little.  Personally for me, my tick rests near Urban still, although I accept it's unlikely.   It's going to be interesting to see who they do go with in the end.  There was a lot of negativity against Affleck's casting, but I think most can agree he's been a highlight of the DCEU.
Whoever get's cast, will be filling the shoes of  Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Affleck.   Soon, I'll also be looking at the supporting cast - including an actor I almost included here as a potential Batman, but then realised I'd love to see him as a Riddler...
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noscorpsaladerive · 5 years
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LRA Korea Write Up!!!  This is so freaking long and rambly and fangirly but here we go
So obviously spoiler alert, I’ll mark the appropriate parts with trigger warnings, and also I don’t speak any Korean so obviously I missed a lot of stuff
Okay so first off the theater and stage itself were pretty damn small especially in comparison to the 4000 seat Palais des Congrès in Paris but they def made that stage work for them.  The back of the stage was curved in and had steps going all the way around, a screen above the steps with projections, etc, and a couple of entrances for actors.  They had some minimal set pieces, but the coolest part was the like celestial pattern they had on these giant moving screens that they used for a curtain as well as for backdrops for some of the scenes.  Tbh the costumes weren’t like mind blowing like you could tell they didn’t have the biggest budget but they worked and none were so ugly or awful that it took me out of the story.
So the show starts in a similar way with Merlin and the Dragon, but it was really cool bc the part (i assume at least) where the Dragon mentions the king’s son Arthur pops up at the top of the steps!  As the knights are slowly appearing for the tournament and start fighting, Arthur actually sings part of Je me relève???  Which imo is brilliant???? Anyways it gets down to just Meleagant and as he goes up to try and pull Excalibur from the stone, he sings part of Un Nouveau Départ which is also brilliant????  This production did a great job of establishing and maintaining musical themes for characters and i was living for it.
Anyways Arthur does the thing and yay he’s king now but wait side note Han Jisang who played Arthur was SO FUCKING GOOD.  Like he captured Arthur’s transition from a boyish squire to a grown ass adult king so beautifully and wonderfully it was truly incredible.
Okay so now it’s Advienne que pourra time and holy fuck.  Holy f u c k.  Kang Hongseok was the perfect Meleagant.  I’d link it but I’m on mobile but you can see his Advienne que pourra in the King Arthur press call around the nine minute mark and he just fucking k i l l s it.  Also there were no sword dicks in the choreography so it’s automatically better.  And the projection1!!!  They had a sun up from the beginning bc the Dragon had appeared in the sun but it was still up for Meleagant but then during the bridge it’s eclipsed by the moon and it’s like ooooo symbolism for Meleagant’s feelings~~~
Side note i really really really loved the staging of this like so much of it made soooo much more sense than the french production and like I’m attached to the original because obvious reasons but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t‘ve been better.
The training scene with Gauvain was pretty similar as the original.  Merlin introduces the stag and the wolf again, and ngl the dude who plays the wolf has very nice abs so good for him for being motivated to work out like that lol.  Anyways i really liked the staging of Qui suis-je because Arthur still has his existential crisis but Merlin’s explanation of the Grail is less directed at him???  Like Arthur’s still on stage but he’s not listening and is working on training with Merlin’s brothers.  So it’s much less “I know you’re having a hard time but look at this shiny thing!” Than the french one.
They took out the Danse des guerriers battle dance number music but they did still have a dance battle!  At the top of the stairs they had Guenièvre and Léodagant being held prisoner by Méléagant and they showed Mélé like trying to be romantic ish with Guenièvre so establishing that connection was really nice. And Méléagant had a new song????  That was really short????? But i don’t think it matched any of the melodies of his other songs?????? I’m confused but intrigued.
Oooo what was really cool was how they did Arthur asking Meleagant to knight him.  Like in the french one it’s tense but i really felt the tension among the characters tonight it was sooo great oh my god.  But after Meleagant takes the sword, he sings a few lines of Advienne que pourra and then points the sword at Arthur’s neck and idk i just really liked it it was such a nice touch and maybe it was Hong Seok and the other actors reacting to him but there was a true sense of holy fuck no one knows what he’s gonna do next and Arthur had this look on his face like I’m prepared to die if this is my time and ugh i love them all so much ;alkdjfa;dk 
Okay next is Rêver l’impossible.  I liked our Guenièvre but I’d have to see her again to have a more detailed opinion of her lol.  I really loved this scene because one no pregnant handmaidens and two Arthur was being really cute and acting all in love with her and it was adorable and I love it.  Quelque chose de magique was more of the same like Han Jisang fucking killed it as Arthur like he was such a dork in love and I loved it.  And towards the end of the scene Méléagant walks on stage and looks at Guenièvre and Arthur and so you know he knows he’s lost Guinevere.
Un Nouveau Départ was great because Kang Hongseok is great and I love him.  They did have the dancers do body rolls which i found very amusing for some reason idk why a;dlkfajd;lfksd Next was my one complaint about the show and it’s that there was no transition whatsoever between Un Nouveau Départ and Au diable but maybe they had Guenièvre do that lyrically???  Still some sort of musical interlude in between would’ve been nice.  I did l o v e how they did the water for her arrival like she stood at the top of the stairs and they had blue fabric covering all the steps then they pulled it down as she started to walk down and the screen was doing these cool star projections and it was just so pretty.
RAPE TW for this next paragraph
Next was A l’enfant and Tu vas le payer.  Nothing really changed story wise but our Leia was soooo good and was such a great dancer.  And I noticed the lady playing the role of child Morgane in the story had such great expressions and body language and tbh the same can be said for the entire ensemble they were amazing. Anyways our Morgane was really amazing too her expressions were also soooo great and I’m running out of adjectives bc it’s three am a;ldkfjad;l but anyways the way things go down for these two songs is about the same in the french but the staging is different obviously like instead of the party scene it’s mostly Morgane jamming out with the ensemble then they roll Arthur and Guenièvre in on rolling platforms and then Morgane waves her arms bc magic and she does the same movements as Guenièvre so it looks like she’s controlling her which I thought was a cool way to do that.  Afterwards Arthur is obviously very distraught but instead of Merlin being like “you have bigger problems your people are dying” Arthur runs off stage to (hopefully) process what just happened so i appreciate that there’s that moment instead of just rushing on to the next thing.
Next was Guenièvre’s garden and Lancelot’s arrival, which was really cute bc her handmaidens blindfold Kay and have him try to find one of them and he ends up in Lancelot’s arms ;aldkfjsdl;k. And the way Kay tries to protect Guinevere was so freaking cute he kept throwing his arms up to protect her and she kept pushing them down then his arms would pop back up it was so cute ;ladkjfadlk
Si je te promets goes down pretty much the same, but what’s interesting is afterwards Merlin shows up and is like hey your people are dying and that’s when they have Délivre-nous!  They also had ensemble member solos instead of just one singer which i thought worked really well.  And Arthur’s moving among them and he tries to reach out to help them as they fall dying and i just love the staging so much like from the very beginning with the dude who rushes in to tell Arthur Méléagant is holding Guenièvre and her father captive you can just tell Arthur is so concerned about caring for his people and i love him so much ;alkdjf;aldk 
After that song ends Arthur’s like hey we gotta fix this shit so he creates the round table then goes into Je me relève!!  Which was a lil creepy bc that’s the exact same idea i had in my own LRA rewrite and i was like fuck did they find my blog but it fucking works y’all!!!!  And they end Act I on that song and ugh it’s so beautiful i love it
Act II starts out with Dors Morgane dors but it’s not about her mother’s rape anymore, we think she’s talking about her plans for Lancelot, Guenièvre, and Arthur but that is to be confirmed.  They then show ARthur and Lancelot kicking ass and taking names which i liked that it showed Lancelot had buddies besides just crushing on Guinevere lol
Next was A nos vœux sacrés which holy shit y’all.  Holy shit.  Both actors are so freaking good and they both hit high notes at the end of the song and i died and went straight to heaven it was sooooo amazing ;alkdjfa;ldskjfas;d also they did not paint Méléagant up like a war boy they had this like branch like mask thing??? It looked really cool omg
Next Lancelot and Guinevere had a short scene that led into L’amour quel idiot and i loved this staging so much!!!! Like instead of having him sing at their faces after the wedding he’s downstage singing and longing for Guinevere while she and Arthur are standing at the top of the steps getting ready for the wedding and i just love it so much y’all
The wedding scene didn’t have a song but Morgane sung Ce que la vie a fait de moi afterwards and holy fuck y’all i freaking died and went to heaven every time this Morgane hit a high note she was soooooo good y’all.  So fucking good.
I don’t really remember much about le Serment d’Arthur prob bc i know they changed things but language barrier so I’m not 100% sure how it changed rip
Faire comme si was good but I’m so attached to the french staging of that song i still miss it ;alkdfjsad; one thing that i really really loved and preferred in this one was Lancelot and Guinevere don’t really touch??  It’s just longing gazes and at one point they touch hands and Lancelot like freezes like oh fuck she’s touching me i can’t believe it but then Guinevere pulls her hand away and he just leaves his in the same spot for a second like he still can’t believe she touched his hand and ugh i loved it the lack of touching really upped the ante on the pining and it was sooo good a;ldfkjadfkl;
Next was another scene with Morgane and Méléagant where Méléagant starts out being all like you promised me!!! And then I *think* Morgane tells him something like be patient and explains her plan but once again Korean and changes so it’s mostly speculation
But y’all
Y’all
They had Morgane and Méléagant sing Mon combat
Like w h a t
But also y e s
I’m glad they didn’t just leave the song the way it is in the French version bc it doesn’t work very well where it is in the French one???  So I’m so happy they moved things around and tried to make things work better
Next up Merlin peaces out and Arthur?????  Sings a slow reprise?????? Of Quelque chose de magique??????? No clue what he says in the lyrics but i thought it was an interesting melodic choice to bring back in the moment Arthur loses his mentor
So Guinevere gets kidnapped and Kay’s the one who actually realizes she’s gone and who took her but Arthur decides to go after her himself???  Then it switches to Lancelot who’s looking for the Grail and they kept the phrase Wake Up in English bless them but he doesn’t find Guinevere’s handkerchief until partway through the song and Niel (the kid playing Lancelot) was really great??? Like it was so much fun watching him as Lancelot ugh
I don’t remember why but Arthur then has a reprise of Si je te promets jury is still out on what he’s singing about but will keep you posted
Yoooo nos corps à la dérive man.  So. Good.  I’m so in love with Hong Seok’s Méléagant he’s so great and i just ;lakdjf;alkdjfd but the set was so cool they had like all these white ribbons???  That Guinevere was attached to??? Which sounds weird but it was like part spider web effect part almost shattered mirror effect????  That’s not explaining it well but it looked really cool and avant garde ish and there was a significantly fewer number of random creepy skeleton projections so i was here for it
Major difference tho Lancelot shows up ready to throw down except he gets his ass kicked and is seriously injured???  And Arthur shows up but he just listens at first so I think that’s when he really figures out what’s up between Lancelot and Guinevere but then Arthur steps in and kills Méléagant (who sings a reprise of Un Nouveau Départ before being carried off into the afterlife) (rip in peace).  Arthur then leaves Guinevere and Lancelot alone while the latter dies and they sing a really sad reprise of L’amour quel idiot :(((( my son dying meant that Il est temps got cut but like they added soo many reprises and things it makes sense that they’d have to cut at least one song but still sad :(
Next Arthur talks with Morgane and I’m not entirely sure what was happening but it seemed like she was having a breakdown because of what happened and what she did to Arthur and Vanessa said that he said something like “Don’t turn into our mother” or something like that but she breaks down and spirits herself away while she and Arthur sing a reprise of Dors Morgane dors
Then it’s Tout est joué and Merlin is standing on the back of the steps while Arthur is in front of the closed screen so it was nice to have that kind of physical barrier present on stage to further emphasize that Merlin’s not gonna be helpful bc he’s now separated from Arthur rip
Next up was Auprès d’un autre which involved a lot less yelling and shit then the French version and holy shit Han Jisang fucking killed it (again) he was sooo great but Arthur lets Guenièvre go partway through the song and so the show ends with him by himself holding up Excalibur
At curtain call they sang some of Je me relève (i think) again and it was cute esp bc at the end everyone was holding a dramatic pose except Han Jisang was just quietly bopping and jamming to the instrumental outro by himself so everyone is dead still except Arthur who was just bopping along it was so cute ;alkdjf;alskdjf
Anyways it was amazing and they seemed to make changes to make the story make more sense which bless them for doing it but i loved it so much and i need to see it like a million more times it was so good a;ldskfjas;ldkfjads;lkfjasd;k
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In America, skin color is an important signifier of beauty and social status. African-Americans' preference for light complexions and European features dates back to the antebellum era when skin color determined an enslaved person's work assignments. Dark-skinned slaves worked in the fields, while light-complexioned slaves worked in the slave owner's home. James Stirling, a British writer who visited the American South in 1857, observed conditions on Southern plantations and wrote:
In judging of the welfare of the slaves, it is necessary to distinguish the different conditions of slavery. The most important distinction, both as regards numbers and its influence on the wellbeing of the slave, is that between houseservants and farm or fieldhands. The houseservant is comparatively well off. He is frequently born and bred in the family he belongs to; and even when this is not the case, the constant association of the slave and his master, *91 and master's family, naturally leads to such an attachment as ensures good treatment. There are not wanting instances of devoted attachment on both sides in such cases. . . . The position of the fieldhands is very different; of those, especially, who labour on large plantations. Here there are none of those humanizing influences at work which temper the rigour of the system, nor is there the same check of public opinion to control abuse. The ‘force' is worked en masse, as a great human mechanism; or, if you will, as a drove of human cattle.
The Hemingses of Monticello provides an example of how slaves with familial ties to their owners lived and worked during the antebellum period. Elizabeth Hemings was the daughter of an African woman and a White sea captain. She had 12 children, half of them by her owner, John Wayles whose legitimate daughter, Martha Wayles Skelton, married President Thomas Jefferson in 1772. After her father's death, Martha inherited Elizabeth Hemings and her children and brought them to serve at Monticello. The Hemings were treated differently than other slaves at Monticello plantation. None of them worked in the fields. The women were considered a relatively privileged caste compared to others, and worked as house servants performing chores like sewing, mending clothes, looking after children, and baking cakes. The men served as valets, coach drivers, and butlers. Jefferson paid some of the men wages and gratuities, and others were allowed to hire themselves out to other employers of their choice. Sally Hemings, the young daughter of Elizabeth Hemings and John Wayles, was Martha's half-sister and it was *92 said that the two bore a physical resemblance. Most historians now agree that Sally Hemings became Jefferson's mistress and bore six of his children.
Lalita Tademy's novel, Cane River, describes the intimate relationships among slave owners and female slaves that produced racially-mixed offspring. The characters are based on Tademy's ancestors who she discovered after years of researching her family's history. It is a narrative about four generations of women born into slavery along the Cane River in Louisiana. One character, Great-grandmother Elisabeth, had a daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter who bore the offspring of the French planters. In many cases, the children's paternity was widely known and acknowledged by their fathers; but, since Louisiana's laws did not allow slaves to be legally entitled to any property or money, these children were not allowed to inherit anything.
Prior to the Civil War, mixed-race Creoles in Louisiana had a social status that set them above enslaved persons. After the War, they were subjected to the "one-drop" rule, but they maintained family and community ties that distanced them from darker-skinned African-Americans. They were, as a Creole documentary put it, "too white to be black and too black to be white."
After emancipation, the dark/light division was perpetuated by African-Americans who constructed social classes based on skin color. Blacks created "blue vein societies," social clubs to which individuals were admitted only if their skin tone was light enough to make their veins visible on the underside of their arms. Color differences continued to *93 play an important role in the Black community. Mixed race individuals attempted to maintain the privileged status they had acquired during slavery. Separate communities were established in which access was based on skin color. Examples include Chatham and East Hyde Park in Chicago, and the Striver's Row and Sugar Hill neighborhoods of New York.
Charles Waddell Chesnutt's 1899 short story, The Wife of His Youth, satirized the pretensions of light-skinned African-Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. The protagonist of the story, Mr. Ryder, was the leader of the local "Blue Vein Society" who was dating a fair-skinned female member of the organization. Ryder claimed that he was free born and the product of a respected family, as this was a requirement for Blue Vein membership. He was confronted with a dilemma when a woman appeared in the community. She was an illiterate, dark-complexioned former slave who had spent years looking for her husband. Ryder initially denied knowing the woman. Eventually, his guilty conscious forced him to admit that he had lied about his background. Ryder acknowledged his marriage and reunited with the dark-skinned woman who was "the wife of his youth."
Researchers have documented the ways in which many Black teachers in segregated schools during the pre-Brown v. Board of Education era were infected with the attitudes that preferred lighter-skinned children over darker-skinned students. Light-skinned students were selected as leads in plays and pageants, called on first in classroom discussions, and visibly favored by teachers. An example of this can be found in a recollection published by J. Saunders Redding, a writer and literary critic who was the first African-American to hold a faculty position at an Ivy League *94 university. Redding was the product of an influential Black family in Wilmington, Delaware. His brother, Louis L. Redding, was the attorney who represented the Delaware students in the consolidated cases remembered as Brown. In No Day of Triumph, Saunders Redding describes his experiences with colorism during his childhood. Wilmington's Black population grew rapidly during and after the World War I years. A large number of Black families were moving from the rural South to work in factory jobs that were available in rapidly industrializing northern communities. The recent arrivals were poorer, less educated and often darker-complexioned than Wilmington's Black middle class. To Saunders' mother and grandmother, the new neighbors were perceived as a threat.
Redding recalled a public speaking contest in which he competed with a dark-skinned student. He was so nervous that he mumbled a few words before bursting into tears. In contrast, the dark-complexioned student's performance was outstanding. Redding, who was lighter-complexioned and socially connected, was awarded first prize despite his dismal performance. A few years later, when Redding was in high school, the light-skinned, female principal discouraged him from maintaining a romantic relationship because the girl was poor and dark-skinned.
Wallace Thurman's Harlem Renaissance novel, The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, is a satire in which the theme is colorism in the 1920s New York. The novel's dark-skinned protagonist, Emma Lou Morgan, internalized biases against dark-complexioned people. She grew up in Boise, Idaho, where she experienced discrimination by the lighter- *95 complexioned African-Americans throughout her childhood. She left Boise to attend to college in Los Angeles. From there, Emma Lou moved to Harlem where she worked as a maid and later as a teacher. Throughout the novel, Emma Lou is plagued by anxieties about her dark complexion. Her obsession with color prevented her from enjoying Harlem's excitement. In New York, Emma Lou encountered discrimination from Blacks and Whites. At a Harlem party, a character explained intra-racial discrimination, stating, "people have to feel superior to something," and expounded that light-complexioned African-Americans who look down on darker-skinned African-Americans were perpetuating a hierarchy of discrimination imposed by the White majority. After some romantic disappointments with light-complexioned men, Emma Lou finally accepted her appearance. The book's title is derived from an old saying: "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice."
In the early decades of the twentieth century, colorism fueled conflicts among African-American leaders, including Marcus Garvey, who was the head of the Universal Negro Improvement Organization. The organization attracted at least a half-million members, and it competed for a time with the NAACP for the position of the premier African-American advocacy group. Many of the NAACP's members were educated and middle class. Garvey's group appealed to the masses. Unlike the NAACP, which fought for integration, Garvey proposed *96 migration to Africa as the answer to the "Negro problem." In 1931, Garvey, who had a very dark complexion and African features, claimed that W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP practiced colorism:
It is no wonder that Du Bois seeks the company of white people, because he hates black as being ugly . . . Yet this professor, who sees ugliness in being black, essays to be a leader of the Negro people and has been trying for over fourteen years to deceive them through his connection with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Now what does he mean by advancing colored people if he hates black so much? In what direction must we expect his advancement? We can conclude in no other way than that it is in the direction of losing our black identity and becoming, as nearly as possible, the lowest whites by assimilation and miscegenation.
Du Bois fervently denied Garvey's claim, but there was some truth to it. Walter White was the head of the NAACP from the mid-1930s until his death in 1955. White's light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes did not display a hint of his African ancestry. He took advantage of his appearance to pass for White while conducting undercover investigations of lynchings and other hate crimes in the South. White's colorism was reflected in the image of African-American women he ac
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Thursday, March 10, 2022
Shoppers Scramble for Staples as the Food Fallout From the War in Ukraine Spreads (TIME) The shockwaves in global crop markets from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are now spreading to store shelves. Worries about surging sunflower oil prices triggered heavy buying over the weekend in Turkey, as footage of citizens trying to grab tins of cheaper oil at one store went viral. In Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, prices for some unsubsidized bread have jumped in the past week. The war has already driven wheat prices 70% higher in Chicago this year and is threatening to upend global food trade. Russia and Ukraine are vital suppliers of grains, vegetable oil and fertilizers, which means that supply disruptions will be felt all over the world. Wheat prices have surpassed levels last seen during the 2008 global food crisis—which helped spark widespread protests—and a United Nations index of food prices hit a record in February. Even in Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of edible oils, high prices are starting to bite. The government is boosting control over local products, while supermarkets have imposed a one-pack-per-shopper buying limit on cooking oil. Families are bringing their young children to line up so they can buy more.
Congress passes bill to shore up Postal Service, delivery (AP) Congress on Tuesday passed legislation that would shore up the U.S. Postal Service and ensure six-day-a-week mail delivery, sending the bill to President Joe Biden to sign into law. The long-fought postal overhaul has been years in the making and comes amid widespread complaints about mail service slowdowns. Many Americans became dependent on the Postal Service during the COVID-19 crisis, but officials have repeatedly warned that without congressional action it would run out of cash by 2024. Postage sales and other services were supposed to sustain the Postal Service, but it has suffered 14 straight years of losses. Growing workers’ compensation and benefit costs, plus steady declines in mail volume, have contributed to the red ink, even as the Postal Service delivers to 1 million additional locations every year.
Biden Bans Oil Imports From Russia (NYT) President Biden on Tuesday banned imports of Russian oil, gas and coal in response to what he called President Vladimir V. Putin’s “vicious war of choice” in Ukraine, but warned Americans that the decision to inflict economic pain on Russia would inevitably mean higher gas prices at home. The impact of the decisions quickly rippled across the global energy market amid fears that the supply of oil would shrink. In the United States, the national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline, which had already surged in recent weeks, reached $4.173, not adjusted for inflation, a new high and an average increase of about 72 cents from only a month ago, according to AAA. Under intense, bipartisan pressure from lawmakers to deny Russia any more oil revenue from Americans, Mr. Biden acted without the unity among allies that has characterized most of the response to Russia’s aggression during the past several months. The moves by Britain and the E.U. fell short of Mr. Biden’s ban. Franck Riester, the French minister for foreign trade, told the Franceinfo radio station on Monday that “everything’s on the table,” but that officials would need to consider “consequences” from an energy ban. About 12 percent of the world’s oil and 17 percent of its natural gas comes from Russia, according to estimates from J.P. Morgan.
White House: Venezuela has freed 2 detained Americans (AP) The Venezuelan government has freed two jailed Americans, including an oil executive imprisoned alongside colleagues for more than four years, as it seeks to improve relations with the Biden administration amid Russia’s war with Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday night. Gustavo Cardenas was released following a secret weekend visit to Venezuela by senior Biden administration officials, the first White House trip to the county in more than two decades. Also freed was Jorge Fernandez, who was arrested last year on what the White House described as “spurious charges.”
Ukraine crisis overview (Bloomberg/NYT) Russia’s botched invasion of its neighbor has other nations reassessing the prowess of its armed forces. Vladimir Putin’s failure to take a major city in two weeks of fighting may have forced him to send in most of the troops he had massed on Ukraine’s borders. He also seems to be doubling down on the leveling of the democratic nation in an ever-more brutal war with a rising number of killings of civilians. “They wanted Crimea 2014,” Caucasus scholar Thomas de Waal said of Russia. “But they got Chechnya 1994.” On Wednesday, Ukraine authorities said, Kremlin forces bombed a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, wounding 17. An agreement to evacuate civilians from six cities appeared to fail for the third day in a row. At the same time, Russia’s economic isolation grows more stark. A day after he went after its fossil fuel industry, U.S. President Joe Biden is now considering sanctioning Russia’s state-owned atomic energy company, a major supplier of fuel to power plants around the world. Domestically, Russians are experiencing the biggest inflation spike this century, thanks to how sanctions have crushed the ruble. The Kremlin accused the U.S. of waging an “economic war” against Russia. The U.S. and its NATO allies have been shipping large quantities of weapons and armaments to Ukraine. But when Poland tried to send Kyiv more than two dozen MiG-29 fighter planes, the Pentagon quickly rejected the offer, saying that flying the jets into Ukraine’s contested airspace could lead to an escalation and draw NATO into direct conflict with Russia.
Arms to Ukraine (WSJ) In the space of two weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set off one of the largest and fastest arms transfers in history. By road and rail, the Czech Republic sent 10,000 rocket-propelled grenades to Ukraine’s defenders last week alone. In Poland, the provincial airport of Rzeszow located about 60 miles from the Ukrainian border has been so crowded with military cargo jets that on Saturday some flights were briefly diverted until airfield space became available. On the country’s highways, police vehicles are escorting military transport trucks to the border, with other convoys slipping into Ukraine via snow-covered back roads through the mountains.
Pentagon says Poland’s jet offer for Ukraine ‘not tenable’ (AP) The Pentagon on Tuesday rejected Poland’s surprise announcement that it would give the United States its MiG-29 fighter jets for use by Ukraine, seeking to boost Ukrainian fighters while avoiding getting caught up in a wider war with Russia. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Poland’s declaration that it intended to deliver the 28 jets to the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany raised the concerning prospect of warplanes departing from a U.S. and NATO base to fly into airspace contested with Russia in the Ukraine conflict. “We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” Kirby said in a statement. The proposed gift of more warplanes would be a morale booster for Ukrainians under pounding Russian assault for nearly two weeks. But it also raises the risk of the war expanding beyond Ukraine.
Ukraine Leader Vows No Surrender (NYT) With Ukraine’s outgunned army holding firm despite Russian bombardments that have displaced millions of civilians, the war in Ukraine has become a grim spectacle of resistance, no one more defiant than the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who vowed on Tuesday never to give in to Russia’s tanks, troops or artillery shells. In a dramatic video address to Britain’s Parliament, Mr. Zelensky echoed Winston Churchill’s famous words of no surrender to the same chamber at the dawn of World War II as Britain faced a looming onslaught from Nazi Germany. “We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air,” Mr. Zelensky said with the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag draped behind him. “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”
Suffering goes on in encircled Mariupol as evacuation fails (AP) Corpses lie in the streets of Mariupol. Hungry people break into stores in search of food and melt snow for water. Thousands huddle in basements, trembling at the sound of Russian shells pounding this strategic port city. A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in this encircled city of 430,000, and Tuesday brought no relief: An attempt to evacuate civilians and deliver badly needed food, water and medicine through a designated safe corridor failed, with Ukrainian officials saying Russian forces had fired on the convoy before it reached the city. Nearly two weeks into the invasion, the Russians have advanced deep along Ukraine’s coastline in what could establish a land bridge to Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. Mariupol, which sits on the Azov Sea, has been surrounded by Russian soldiers for days. Mariupol, said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, is in a “catastrophic situation.”
Russian News Coverage: An Alternate Reality of War (NYT) To spend several days watching news broadcasts on the main state channels, as well as surveying state-controlled newspapers, is to witness the extent of the Kremlin’s efforts to sanitize its war with the term “special military operation”—and to make all news coverage align with that message. Words like “war” or “invasion” to describe the actions of the Russian military are forbidden under a new law that President Putin signed on Friday. The law mandates up to 15 years in prison for any coverage the state deems “false information” about the military campaign. “It is not a war on Russian TV,” said Stanislav Kucher, a veteran Russian television host and former member of the presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. Mr. Kucher moved to the United States after his shows were repeatedly shuttered. “You will not see explosions, you will not see strikes on neighborhoods where civilians live, you will not see a lot in terms of troops, soldiers, heavy armored vehicles or anything like that,” he added. Mr. Putin, 69, has long sought to wrap his administration in the heroic actions and terrible sacrifices made by the Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany. So that is the refrain on state media. Mr. Putin himself referred to the government in Kyiv as Nazis about 10 times during a speech last Saturday, and the word is repeated endlessly on every broadcast. To reinforce the idea, news channels frequently show black and white footage of actual Nazis. The vast destruction visited on the city of Kharkiv and many smaller towns in the northeast usually merits at best a passing reference, or is blamed on Ukrainian forces.
Ex-prosecutor and foreign policy neophyte wins South Korea polls (AP) Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative former top prosecutor and foreign policy neophyte, was elected South Korea’s new president on Thursday, a win expected to herald Seoul’s drive to seek a stronger alliance with the United States and take a tougher line on North Korea. With over 99% of the votes counted early Thursday, Yoon from the main opposition People Power Party had 48.6% against ruling liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung’s 47.8%. It was South Korea’s most closely fought presidential election.
Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic (BBC) Scientists have found and filmed one of the greatest ever undiscovered shipwrecks 107 years after it sank. The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats. Video of the remains show Endurance to be in remarkable condition. Even though it has been sitting in 3km (10,000ft) of water for over a century, it looks just like it did on the November day it went down. Its timbers, although disrupted, are still very much together, and the name—Endurance—is clearly visible on the stern.
Wild pigs spreading north (Guardian) Word to Canada: Forget aliens, zombies, brain-eating amoebas, and biological warfare—it’s wild pigs that are coming for you. These prolific, voracious, destructive animals have been spreading across central Alberta’s prairies, and if left unchecked, could soon be in the river valley of Edmonton, a place abundant in water and forest cover. Ryan Brook is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan who’s been studying the wild pigs. He says the creatures are an “ecological train wreck” that would cause “absolute destruction” if they make their way to the river valley. He says pigs are the “worst invasive wild mammal on the planet,” carrying diseases, destroying crops, and contaminating water. As omnivores, the pigs will eat virtually anything, including squirrels, birds, eggs, roadkill, live deer—and pets. They can carry 89 diseases, including African swine fever and foot and mouth disease. “They wallow in wetlands and tear them up to make their nests.... They contaminate water with mud and pathogens,” Brook says “and they can transmit disease to humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife.” … “You cannot dabble in wild pig eradication. You either go in full hog and remove them, but you need a strategy.” In case that didn’t sink in, Brook adds: “You cannot barbeque your way out of this problem.”
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blackkudos · 6 years
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Morgan Freeman
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Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer and narrator. Freeman won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Supporting Actor with Million Dollar Baby (2004), and he has received Oscar nominations for his performances in Street Smart (1987), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Invictus (2009). He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Glory (1989), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Seven (1995), Deep Impact (1998), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003), The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012), The Lego Movie (2014), and Lucy (2014). He rose to fame as part of the cast of the 1970s children's program The Electric Company. Morgan Freeman is ranked as the 4th highest box office star with over $4.316 billion total box office gross, an average of $74.4 million per film.
Early life and education
Morgan Freeman was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere; 1912–2000), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died on April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. According to a DNA analysis, some of his ancestors were from Niger. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. He moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois. When Freeman was 16 years old, he almost died of pneumonia.
Freeman made his acting debut at age nine, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, a building which serves today as Threadgill Elementary School, in Greenwood, Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to enlist in the United States Air Force and served as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman, rising to the rank of Airman 1st Class. Freeman's service portrait appears in his character's funeral scene in The Bucket List.
After four years in the military, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he took acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse and dancing lessons in San Francisco in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles City College. During this period, Freeman also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring musical theater group. He acted in a touring company version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in the 1965 film The Pawnbroker. Freeman made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers (about the Freedom Riders during the American Civil Rights Movement), before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly! which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway.
He continued to be involved in theater work and received the Obie Award in 1980 for the title role in Coriolanus. In 1984, he received his second Obie Award for his role as the preacher in The Gospel at Colonus. Freeman also won a Drama Desk Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his role as a wino in The Mighty Gents. He received his third Obie Award for his role as a chauffeur for a Jewish widow in Driving Miss Daisy, which was adapted for the screen in 1989.
Career
Acting career
Although his first credited film appearance was in 1971's Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow?, Freeman first became known in the American media through roles on the soap opera Another World and the PBS kids' show The Electric Company (notably as Easy Reader, Mel Mounds the DJ, and Vincent the Vegetable Vampire[clip]).
During his tenure with The Electric Company, "(i)t was a very unhappy period in his life," according to Joan Ganz Cooney. Freeman himself admitted in an interview that he never thinks about his tenure with the show at all. Since then, Freeman has considered his Street Smart (1987) character Fast Black, rather than any of the characters he played in The Electric Company, to be his breakthrough role.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Freeman began playing prominent supporting roles in many feature films, earning him a reputation for depicting wise, fatherly characters. As he gained fame, he went on to bigger roles in films such as the chauffeur Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, and Sergeant Major Rawlins in Glory (both in 1989). In 1994, he portrayed Red, the redeemed convict in the acclaimed The Shawshank Redemption. In the same year he was a member of the jury at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.
He also starred in such films as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, and Deep Impact. In 1997, Freeman, together with Lori McCreary, founded the film production company Revelations Entertainment, and the two co-head its sister online film distribution company ClickStar. Freeman also hosts the channel Our Space on ClickStar, with specially crafted film clips in which he shares his love for the sciences, especially space exploration and aeronautics.
After three previous nominations—a supporting actor nomination for Street Smart, and leading actor nominations for Driving Miss Daisy and The Shawshank Redemption—he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Million Dollar Baby at the 77th Academy Awards. Freeman is recognized for his distinctive voice, making him a frequent choice for narration. In 2005 alone, he provided narration for two films, War of the Worlds and the Academy Award-winning documentary film March of the Penguins.
Freeman appeared as God in the hit film Bruce Almighty and its sequel, Evan Almighty, as well as Lucius Fox in the critical and commercial success Batman Begins and its sequels, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He starred in Rob Reiner's 2007 film The Bucket List, opposite Jack Nicholson. He teamed with Christopher Walken and William H. Macy for the comedy The Maiden Heist, which was released direct to video due to financial problems with the distribution company. In 2008, Freeman returned to Broadway to co-star with Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher for a limited engagement of Clifford Odets's play, The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols.
He had wanted to do a film based on Nelson Mandela for some time. At first he tried to get Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom adapted into a finished script, but it was not finalized. In 2007, he purchased the film rights to a book by John Carlin, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. Clint Eastwood directed the Nelson Mandela bio-pic titled Invictus, starring Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby team captain Francois Pienaar.
In 2010, Freeman co-starred alongside Bruce Willis in Red. In 2013, Freeman appeared in the action-thriller Olympus Has Fallen, the science fiction drama Oblivion, and the comedy Last Vegas. In 2014, he co-starred in the action film Lucy.
In 2015, Freeman played the Chief Justice of the United States in the season two premiere of Madam Secretary (Freeman is also one of the series' executive producers).
Other work
Freeman made his directorial debut in 1993 with Bopha! for Paramount Pictures.
In July 2009, Freeman was one of the presenters at the 46664 Concert celebrating Nelson Mandela's birthday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Freeman was the first American to record a par on Legend Golf & Safari Resort's Extreme 19th hole.
Effective January 4, 2010, Freeman replaced Walter Cronkite as the voiceover introduction to the CBS Evening News featuring Katie Couric as news anchor. CBS cited the need for consistency in introductions for regular news broadcasts and special reports as the basis for the change. As of 2010, Freeman is the host and narrator of the Discovery Channel television show, focused on physics outreach, Through the Wormhole.
He was featured on the opening track to B.o.B's second album Strange Clouds. The track "Bombs Away" features a prologue and epilogue (which leads into a musical outro) spoken by Freeman. In 2011, Freeman was featured with John Lithgow in the Broadway debut of Dustin Lance Black's play, 8, a staged reenactment of Perry v. Brown, the federal trial that overturned California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. Freeman played Attorney David Boies. The production was held at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
In 2015 Freeman directed "The Show Must Go On," the season two premiere of Madam Secretary.
Personal life
Family
From his early life, Freeman has two extramarital children; one of them is Alfonso Freeman.
Freeman was married to Jeanette Adair Bradshaw from October 22, 1967, until November 18, 1979.
He married Myrna Colley-Lee on June 16, 1984. The couple separated in December 2007. Freeman's attorney and business partner Bill Luckett announced in August 2008 that Freeman and his wife were in divorce proceedings. On September 15, 2010, their divorce was finalized in Mississippi.
Freeman and Colley-Lee adopted Freeman's stepgranddaughter from his first marriage, E'dena Hines, and raised her together. On August 16, 2015, 33-year-old Hines was murdered in New York City.
In 2008, the TV series African American Lives 2 revealed that some of Freeman's great-great-grandparents were slaves who migrated from North Carolina to Mississippi. Freeman discovered that his Caucasian maternal great-great-grandfather had lived with, and was buried beside, Freeman's African-American great-great-grandmother (in the segregated South, the two could not marry legally at the time). A DNA test on the series stated that he is descended in part from the Songhai and Tuareg peoples of Niger.
Religious views
In a 2012 interview with TheWrap, Freeman was asked if he considered himself atheist or agnostic. He replied, "It's a hard question because as I said at the start, I think we invented God. So if I believe in God, and I do, it's because I think I'm God." Freeman later said that his experience working on The Story of God with Morgan Freeman did not change his views on religion.
Properties
Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi, and New York City. He owns and operates Ground Zero, a blues club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He formerly co-owned Madidi, a fine dining restaurant, also in Clarksdale.
Flying
At age 65, Freeman earned a private pilot's license. He owns or has owned at least three private aircraft, including a Cessna Citation 501 jet and a Cessna 414 twin-engine prop. In 2007 he purchased an Emivest SJ30 long-range private jet and took delivery in December 2009. He is certified to fly all of them.
Car accident
Freeman was injured in an automobile accident near Ruleville, Mississippi, on the night of August 3, 2008. The vehicle in which he was traveling, a 1997 Nissan Maxima, left the highway and flipped over several times. He and a female passenger, Demaris Meyer, were rescued from the vehicle using the "Jaws of Life". Freeman was taken via medical helicopter to The Regional Medical Center (The Med) hospital in Memphis. Police ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash. Freeman was coherent following the crash, as he joked with a photographer about taking his picture at the scene. His left shoulder, arm, and elbow were broken in the crash, and he had surgery on August 5, 2008. Doctors operated for four hours to repair nerve damage in his shoulder and arm. On CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight he stated that he is left handed but cannot move the fingers of his left hand. He wears a compression glove to protect against blood pooling due to non-movement. His publicist announced he was expected to make a full recovery. Meyer, his passenger, sued him for negligence, claiming that he was drinking the night of the accident. Subsequently, the suit was settled.
Beekeeping
After becoming concerned with the decline of honeybees, Freeman decided to turn his 124-acre ranch into a sanctuary for them in July 2014, starting with 26 bee hives.
Activism
Charitable work
In 2004, Freeman and others formed the Grenada Relief Fund to aid people affected by Hurricane Ivan on the island of Grenada. The fund has since become PLANIT NOW, an organization that seeks to provide preparedness resources for people living in areas afflicted by hurricanes and severe storms. Freeman has worked on narrating small clips for global organizations, such as One Earth, whose goals include raising awareness of environmental issues. He has narrated the clip "Why Are We Here," which can be viewed on One Earth's website. Freeman has donated money to the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville, Mississippi. The park is part of Mississippi State University and Freeman has several horses that he takes there.
Politics
Freeman endorsed Barack Obama's candidacy for the 2008 presidential election, although he stated that he would not join Obama's campaign. He narrates for The Hall of Presidents with Barack Obama, who has been added to the exhibit. The Hall of Presidents re-opened on July 4, 2009, at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Freeman joined President Bill Clinton, USA Bid Committee Chairman Sunil Gulati, and USMNT midfielder Landon Donovan on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, in Zurich for the U.S. bid committee's final presentation to FIFA for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On day 4 of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Morgan Freeman provided the voiceover for the video introduction of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Comments on racism
Freeman has publicly criticized the celebration of Black History Month and does not participate in any related events, saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." He says the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it, and he notes that there is no "white history month." Freeman once said in an interview with 60 Minutes's Mike Wallace, "I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man." Freeman supported the defeated proposal to change the Mississippi state flag, which contains the Confederate battle flag. Freeman sparked controversy in 2011 when, on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, he accused the Tea Party movement of racism.
In reaction to the death of Freddie Gray and the 2015 Baltimore protests, Freeman said he was "absolutely" supportive of the protesters. "That unrest [in Baltimore] has nothing to do with terrorism at all, except the terrorism we suffer from the police. [...] Because of the technology—everybody has a smartphone—now we can see what the police are doing. We can show the world, Look, this is what happened in that situation. So why are so many people dying in police custody? And why are they all black? And why are all the police killing them white? What is that? The police have always said, 'I feared for my safety.' Well, now we know. OK. You feared for your safety while a guy was running away from you, right?"
Filmography
Awards and honors
On October 28, 2006, Freeman was honored at the first Mississippi's Best Awards in Jackson, Mississippi, with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his works on and off the big screen. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts and Letters from Delta State University during the school's commencement exercises on May 13, 2006. In 2013, Boston University presented him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. On November 12, 2014, he was bestowed the honour of Freedom of the City by the City of London.
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dipulb3 · 3 years
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Tesla needs a perfect year. That won't be easy
New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/tesla-needs-a-perfect-year-that-wont-be-easy/
Tesla needs a perfect year. That won't be easy
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But in order to justify its sky-high stock price, the automaker will need to overcome a growing list of challenges.
What’s happening: A global chip shortage is snarling production, while the business environment in China, a crucial market, remains fraught. Competitors are gaining ground and Tesla faces a safety investigation tied to a fatal crash in Texas.
Shares are down 2% in premarket trading.
Some Wall Street analysts still see a solid case for Tesla’s stock, which is trading at more than 1,100 times its earnings, according to data from Refinitiv.
“While the company is still far from the sort of scale to justify its stock price … production has exploded, and the company expects further expansion with the 2021 completion of its Berlin and Texas factories,” Bespoke Investment Group told clients.
But a closer look at the company’s financial results show that a big reason the company had a strong start to the year is because of its sale of regulatory credits, which brought in $518 million in revenue, and bitcoin holdings.
Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin last quarter while the cryptocurrency was soaring. Zachary Kirkhorn, the automaker’s “master of coin” (okay, chief financial officer), said the company later sold 10% of its position, resulting in a $101 million profit. That’s nearly a quarter of the $438 million Tesla earned when results are adjusted for stricter accounting standards.
And while there’s no denying that the company’s car sales could continue to boom this year, there are, as ever, a long list of risks.
CEO Elon Musk, whose official title is now “Technoking,” told investors Monday that the chip shortage was “a huge problem” for Tesla, and that it was battling “some of the most difficult supply chain challenges that we’ve ever experienced.”
Musk said the company should be able to stick to its target for better than 50% growth in sales this year, which would take sales over the 750,000 mark.
To reach that target, the company needs to continue to see strong demand in China, the world’s biggest market. But it faces potential issues there from both consumers and Beijing.
Last week, Tesla’s booth at the Shanghai Auto Show was briefly besieged by protesters complaining about problems with its cars. The episode comes after Tesla was summoned by regulators in February to discuss the quality of its Shanghai-made vehicles. The following month, reports surfaced that the country’s military had banned its vehicles from entering its complexes over concerns that cameras onboard could be used for spying.
Chinese authorities aren’t the only ones putting Tesla under the microscope. The company is also working with US safety investigators after two passengers were killed in a crash of a Tesla Model S outside Houston.
These challenges come as Tesla faces increasingly fierce competition from upstart rivals like Rivian, as well as traditional automakers like Volkswagen and General Motors that are ramping up their electric vehicle offerings.
Tesla could still rise above the fray — and Bespoke Investment Group notes that the company’s stock is often divorced from its financial performance anyways. But the path ahead for Tesla and its Technoking looks tricky.
Wall Street’s Archegos losses just topped $10 billion
Losses caused by the collapse of US hedge fund Archegos are piling up, my Appradab Business colleague Charles Riley reports.
The latest: Swiss bank UBS (UBS) revealed on Tuesday that it lost $774 million from last month’s implosion of Archegos Capital Management, a bigger hit than many analysts expected. The announcement came as Japan’s Nomura (NMR) said it would book losses of $2.9 billion from Archegos, a sharp increase from its initial estimate of $2 billion.
Global banks have now disclosed losses of at least $10.4 billion from the failure of Archegos, a New York-based family office that managed the fortune of investor Bill Hwang. Some smaller banks may also have been hit, and the fallout has taken the shine off an otherwise strong earnings season for global banks.
Credit Suisse (CS) has been rocked hardest. The Swiss bank said last week that the collapse will cost it a total of $5.5 billion, and it has announced the departure of its top investment banker and chief risk officer. Other members of the executive board will not receive bonuses for 2020.
Morgan Stanley (MS) suffered a $911 million loss, and Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Securities is expecting to lose roughly $300 million.
Remember: Archegos used borrowed money to build massive positions in stocks including media companies ViacomCBS (VIACA) and Discovery, and was unable to pay back its lenders when share prices dropped. The resulting damage to banks has raised concerns about the dangers of leverage and led to calls for tighter regulation.
Is the $2 trillion company club about to expand?
Apple (AAPL) is the only American firm to reach a $2 trillion market value. But it could soon have a lot more company in that elite club, my Appradab Business colleague Paul R. La Monica reports.
Microsoft is worth just under $2 trillion. Amazon has a market capitalization of $1.7 trillion, and Google owner Alphabet is worth about $1.5 trillion.
Tech stocks have come roaring back in recent weeks, helping to push these Nasdaq stalwarts near record highs.
In fact, tech’s Magnificent Seven — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla— are now collectively worth about $9.3 trillion. That’s a quarter of the S&P 500’s total market value of $37.5 trillion.
“The earnings expectations for the S&P 500 are through the roof for this year as investors expect this great recovery, and tech is a big part of that,” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager with Synovus Trust Company. “These companies are just so dominant.”
Morgan noted that while some of the tech leaders of the 1990s, such as IBM, Oracle and Cisco, eventually began to post slower earnings and sales growth, that doesn’t appear to be happening with the current industry leaders.
“They are high-growth companies but also defensive because they could still do well if the reopening of the economy doesn’t go smoothly after Covid,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “Some consumer behavior changes during the pandemic may be permanent.”
Up next
3M (MMM), Eli Lilly (LLY), Invesco, GE (GE), Hasbro (HAS), JetBlue (JBLU), Raytheon (RTN) and UPS (UPS) report results before US markets open. Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL), Capital One (COF), FireEye (FEYE), Microsoft (MSFT), Mondelez (MDLZ), Pinterest (PINS), Starbucks (SBUX) and Visa (V) follow after the close.
Also today: US consumer confidence data for April posts at 10 a.m. ET.
Coming tomorrow: Investors will comb through the Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement for any signs of concern about inflation.
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